Paris is honestly beautiful at anytime of the year but at certain times of the year it’s crowded with tourist from every country wanting to see and experience Paris! For a lot of people part of the Parisian experience is shopping- myself included. But in Paris during the summer (especially in August) there are a couple factors that are going to affect what stock you are going to find.
First, in France (and a lot of other European countries) workers get off all or most of August. That means a lot of the artisans that work for the big luxury brands get off August making stock lower. Second, the summer time is a very popular time for people to travel to Europe meaning you have both locals and tourists competing for the same items. Most of the time locals have a better relationship with a sales associate meaning the good is going to be put on hold before it is even available to shopper at the store. And lastly, if your looking for a Louis Vuitton canvas piece, LV has slowed production on their canvas pieces to encourage customers to purchase leather goods making popular canvas pieces hard to find.
So with this sort of shopping atmosphere what is one to do? Below are the tips that I found worked for me this last August. I was able to score some key pieces on my wishlist with these tips.
- Go Early– When I say go early I mean try to go as soon as the store opens. The stores open at various times in Paris. For example a boutique in a department store in Printemps will likely open at 9:30 am while a stand alone store might not open till 10:30 am or 11:00 am. Make sure to check online. You will likely have to wait in a line but you will get first crack at the new stock that came in last night or that morning.
- Check Multiple Stores– In a big city like Paris there are often numerous stand alone boutiques and small boutiques in store. In Paris I can think of 5 Louis Vuitton boutiques off the top of my head. That means that any of those 5 stores could have the piece you are looking for. If one boutique doesn’t have the piece you can totally ask the sales associate helping you to check the stock in other stores. The only store that won’t do this is Hermes.
- Try to build an SA relationship– If you are there for more than one day, try to build a relationship with a sales associate. Let them know your going to be in town for so many days and are really interested in this piece. That is how I got my latest LV bag and I even got to skip the line when I showed up the next morning.
- Go to the Flagship Store– A lot of brands have their flagship store in Paris and these boutiques are often well stocked and get in the most new stock each day. I was told by numerous LV SAs that my best chance to get the bag I was looking for was to go to the Champ d’elyses store at opening. Luckily I made that relationship with an SA and got to avoid that store as it gets very crazy and hectic in there.
- Check the website– Certain fashion houses (like Celine and LV) will tell you if a piece you want is in stock near you. This is not always completely accurate as I don’t believe it’s updated every minute but it can give you an idea of what store you should head to.
I hope these help and happy shopping!
