A special case

s this how a DIY store looks? The ground floor may have a reception that looks like a sitting room, but there's nothing to buy here (unless one counts the couple of plants by the door). And it's a long walk on the first floor before one encounters "normal" DIY store shelving...
Presumably it isn't intended to be normal, the fifth Leroy Merlin in Paris. The name sounds like it is: "Leroy Merlin L'appart", because the "L'appart" can be read as an abbreviation for "l'appartement", hence an apartment. To French ears, however, it also sounds like "à part", and something that is "à part" is out of the ordinary.
Voilà - once more France's market leader Leroy Merlin has demonstrated its creativity. Not only can it multiply its large-scale DIY stores, but it also has a nose for how even now,  when standard offerings abound online, high street retailers can advance with formats tailored to a particular catchment area.
With the opening of its last store in the centre of Paris on the elegant Place de la Madeleine, the company showed how to adapt to different circumstances. It was a bold move: the store still has to prove whether the concept works, whether customers actually shop here or simply look,  and whether the high costs of the central location are offset by sufficiently high sales.
Leroy Merlin L'appart is another one-off. The store, with a retail area of 2 200 m² over two floors, is situated in Clichy-Batignolles. This suburb in the 17th Arrondissement to the north of the French capital is currently being completely redeveloped.

Office blocks and apartments are going up all around in quick succession. The people moving in here or living close by - who have a certain income level - will be offered not just products, but also ideas by the new store: this is how you could live in your (usually rather small, because expensive) Paris apartment.The store is designed to reflect this approach. Before customers get to the product shelves, they walk past or through four show apartments that cater entirely to different typical occu-pants.
For example, take "Prune, Grég & Téo, 30 and 31 years old, married with a one-year-old child.  60 m², two rooms, rue Brochant." Then there is the price if one wants to achieve this look by copying and pasting: "This apartment will…