La Samaritaine
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La Samaritaine is a large department store in Paris, France. It is owned by LVMH, a luxury-goods maker.
The large building is located in the First Arrondissement, on the banks of the River Seine, at the north end of the Pont Neuf. The nearest Metro station is Pont-Neuf. The first new building for the store was begun in 1904 by Frantz Jourdain in an Art Nouveau style, and an addition was built in the 1920s in an Art Deco style by Henri Sauvage facing the Seine.
The store was first opened as a small shop by Ernst Cognaq in 1869, and he remained the owner until well into the twentieth century. It mainly sells luxury goods, but its prices are below those of its main competitors, Le Bon Marché and Galeries Lafayette.
The name La Samaritaine comes from a hydraulic pump installed near the Pont Neuf, which operated from 1609 to 1813. Front of the pump featured a gilded bas-relief of the Good Samaritan.
The store has a rooftop café which affords excellent views of the city.
On June 10th, 2005 La Samaritaine announced that the store would be closed for several years because inspections had found that the building was a fire risk.[1].
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