Where to Shop in Marseille, from Maison Empereur to Rue Paradis
Seven addresses for shopping in Marseille, from a family hardware store near the Vieux-Port, open since 1827, to a Japanese tea house of many rooms and the boutiques of Rue Paradis.
The shelves at Provisions. Photo: Provisions
In any city the shops worth finding are the ones with a story of their own, and Marseille has a good number of them, a family store of Marseille soap and homewares open since 1827, an épicerie and bookshop stocking natural wine and flowers grown in Arles, a Japanese tea house run by a mother and daughter since 1998. The big houses are on Rue Grignan, the boutiques on Rue Paradis, and the rest is spread across the center of the city and out toward the Prado. These are the seven worth knowing. For where to eat, drink, and stay around them, see our Marseille city guide.
Maison Empereur
The oldest hardware store in France, on Rue des Récolettes in Noailles, a few streets from the Vieux-Port, founded in 1827 and still run by the same family. Its 1,300 square meters hold some 50,000 references, from Marseille soap, table linens and copper pans to knives, brooms, toys, espadrilles and workwear, and it is easy to lose an hour here. It is the best place in the city for a gift or a souvenir. On the second floor there is a guest apartment with a covered terrace and no wifi, which the family has rented out since 2017. Pétrin Couchette, the bakery and coffee counter around the corner, is the stop to pair with a visit.
Marseille soap on the shelves at Maison Empereur. Photo: Maison Empereur
Provisions
Part grocery, part bookshop, on Rue de Lodi in the 6th, in the tradition of the bookshop that stood on the street before it. The shelves hold natural wine and cider from small producers, vegetables, flowers grown in Arles, ceramics for the home, and books on cooking, farming and the land. Most of it is French and local.
An independent optician and eyewear boutique on Rue Paradis, opened in spring 2024 by Matthieu Astruc after three years running the Brooklyn eyewear concept store Atelier Mira. The frames are handmade in French, Italian and Japanese workshops, in titanium and bio-acetate, from names like Kuboraum, Lesca Lunetier and Port Tanger, with lenses by Leica, made in France, and not every frame is on display, so the team brings out pieces in conversation. The room, by the Marseille architects Margaux Fritz and Lucie Toussaint, is okoumé wood, brushed stainless steel, travertine and velvet, with the repair workshop open at the back and a sound system by the sound artist Matéo Garcia that the shop uses for listening sessions. Frames start from around €139. Open Tuesday to Saturday, with appointments through the website.
A Japanese tea house on Rue Venture, near the Opéra, opened in 1998 and run by a mother and daughter, that has grown over the years into a shop of many rooms. There are teapots and tea boxes, ceramics, art supplies, stationery and small pieces of furniture, and walking in feels like stepping into Japan.
A multi-brand boutique at the upper end of Rue Paradis, near the Prado, from a family of shops that has grown to several addresses in the city and one in Aix. The concept store carries more than 250 brands, French labels like Not From Paris Madame among others, across two shops that face each other from opposite sides of the street, which makes it a good place for a wardrobe edit. The same family runs Le Café Lulli in the city center, between Rue Paradis and Rue Grignan.
Rue Paradis is the main shopping street of the city, running almost three kilometers from the Vieux-Port to the Prado and lined with boutiques along the way, Focus Focus and Lulli among them. Rue Grignan, at the port end, holds the big houses such as Hermès and Rolex, and a few steps off both, Rue Francis Davso is where to find brands like Sézane and COS. Most shops open Monday to Saturday from around 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening.
A facade on Rue Paradis. Photo: Marseille Tourisme
Ensemble
A photography bookshop and gallery on Rue Chevalier Roze, between the Vieux-Port and Le Panier, run by the independent publisher Loose Joints. There is a slightly too-cool-for-you air to the place, but it is worth a browse for anyone in the area, with a small section of Fitzcarraldo classics on the shelves, and there are exhibitions and launches through the year.
From a hardware store in Noailles to a photography bookshop on the edge of Le Panier, these are the seven places worth knowing for shopping in Marseille.
You can find all of our recommendations in our Marseille city guide, from more of the city’s shops to its best cafés, restaurants, bars, and hotels, the things to see and do, and the day trips worth making beyond it, with every address pinned on a map.
