When did the store open ?
Our store opened in September 2020. Before that we ran an online shop since February 2016 and became Annie Sloan Stockists in 2019. We wanted real contact with our clients and the idea of a team of women from the same family – there are three of us: mother, Sophie, daughter Helaine, and daughter/sister-in-law Lila, in the Monmarte district that we all love, was irresistible.
What is the local area like.
We are fortunate to be located in Montmartre. The Sacré-Cœur Basilica is 350m away, and the Saint-Pierre market (French fabric market temple) is 200m away.
Our street isn’t the most touristy in Montmartre, but it has managed to retain its artistic and family-friendly atmosphere, and well, the whole Montmartre hill is paradise!
Tell us about the store
Our shop was designed around Annie Sloan products. We specifically asked the architect to include a piece of furniture dedicated to Chalk Paint so fans of the brand could feel at home. We were already selling Annie Sloan paints online when we opened our store. We decided to dedicate about half of its space to furniture refinishing and there are workshops every weekend to explore all the decorative painting techniques.
The second half of our shop is dedicated to home decor and gifts. We offer decorative items, a few small pieces of furniture, locally made creations like soaps, postcards, stationary, educational games for children, fashion accessories and jewellery designed by one of us (Lilakacemi). We also design and manufacture custom ceramic tiles.
The decor is very warm, with brick and stone walls and antique floor tiles. All bathed in a jazz playlist that many of our guests enjoy.
What type of workshops do you run?
Our workshops take place every Saturday morning from February to October and last between two and a half to three hours and we offer over 40 techniques.
Most of the time it’s Sophie who runs them, but and Lila are both colour specialists too. It’s virtually impossible to transport furniture on public transport in Paris so we work with small test boards which the trainees take home at the end of the course.
Each trainee chooses three techniques to learn and several attendees have booked multiple sessions. It is also possible to buy an item to paint like a lamp base and lampshade, tray, or box in our shop and decorate it.
