During our recent summer holiday in Paris, my beloved wife and daughter decided to take a day off and go out for shopping without me. – What a gift! I felt very privileged to have been given back the opportunity of being a ‘freeman’, despite the fact that it was only for a few hours 😉

Against ticking clock, I decided to feed the never ever growing up child within me, and dedicate the whole day to visiting all official LEGO shops in Paris. – Sounds crazy? Well, if you are a LEGO addict like me, then you know what I mean…

When I googled for LEGO shops, I’ve realized that most of the information available online is either misleading or outdated. After a couple of trial and errors, plus many hours wasted on road, I have managed to visit all 3 official LEGO stores in Paris.

 The LEGO Store – Les Halles

 The LEGO Store – So Ouest

 The LEGO Store – Disneyland

During the metro trip back to hotel, I promised myself to write a clear blog post about all the information that I had gathered, so that it could be useful to other LEGO fans visiting Paris.

So, here we go!

The LEGO Store – Les Halles

This is a brand new 400 m² LEGO store established in April 2016. It is located at the center of Forum des Halles shopping mall.

Les Halles LEGO store has a breathtaking showcase. On the left, the store welcomes you with a huge French kitchen set built in LEGO bricks. While looking at the cook, oven, pots, colourful cupcakes, and many other well-thought-out details, it is quite easy to be bewildered while dreaming in front of the showcase. When you walk to the right hand side, you’ll notice two more mega LEGO constructions; The Notre-Dame Cathedral and The Arc de Triomphe. Though both sets demonstrate top-notch brick architecture wizardry, the cathedral construction is a truly remarkable piece of art. The amount of detail –and even humour– that goes into making this set is unreal; tiny goblins and knights walking at the roof speak for themselves 😉

When you go into the store, the first thing you’ll notice is the wall-to-wall layout of shelves. They are clearly categorized with hundreds of boxed LEGO products on them. When you are at the entrance (facing the point of sales), the Duplo products (for babies) are on the left, and the Technic series (for teenagers and adults) are on the right, which is a panoramic categorization from left to right based on age. Simple and effective.

One thing that I really loved is the location of the point of sale. An ellipse shaped desk (with many cash registers on it) is right in the middle of the store! No matter how crowded the shop is, you can always find a shortcut to reach the cashiers.

* This was a real lifesaver during my second visit to this store. I brought my wife and daughter with me on a Saturday afternoon, and the store was so crowded that we couldn’t walk without bumping each other. That day, I really appreciated the wise decision of locating the point of sales in the hotspot of the store.

Last but not least, here comes the jewel in the crown: The staff members. They are simply amazing! Unlike typical salespeople, they are 100% enthusiastic about what they are selling, and specialized in various product categories. These young ladies/gentlemen are always smiling, willing to assist, and very polite.

* And, did I mention that all the French staff members are fluent in English? – Oh, yes!

I have to mention one staff member in particular; Mademoiselle Samantha. For almost half an hour, she patiently answered all my technical questions, visited the storage room (behind the store) a few times, checked the availability of hard-to-find items on my shopping list, made a phone call to one of the other official LEGO stores (So Ouest), reserved the missing items for me, and finally wrote down the directions to make sure that I’ll find my way to that shop safe and secure… Thank you very much, indeed!

The LEGO Store – So Ouest

This is a 300 m² LEGO store established in October 2012. It is located at So Ouest shopping mall in Levallois-Perret,  a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris. Unlike the  previous LEGO store, this one is not at the center of Paris. However, if you follow my directions below, it will take approximately half an hour to get there. It’s not really far away…

So, is this store really worth visiting? Absolutely! This is a fantastic LEGO store in every way. Make sure that it is on your list.

Compared to previous one, So Ouest LEGO store has a less-than-moderate showcase. No mega constructions to speak of, actually. However, the warm demonstration of recently introduced LEGO sets at the showcase instantly grabs your attention, and humbly welcomes you inside… A classy way of making you feel “Let’s see what they have here!” 😉

Contrary to the humble first impression of the store, the product range is simply premium. Don’t let the size and modest atmosphere of the shop fool you; they have everything here for you. All products are sorted by themes. Even on your first visit to this store, it is very easy to find what you are looking for. Everything is self-explanatory.

The staff members are superb! They are very polite, always ready to assist you, and willing to speak about the products that you are interested in. Somehow, you feel that you are being taken care of, and it makes you feel comfortable. From a customer point of view, this is something truly beyond the dated customer relationship lessons taught in business schools. It’s really nice to know that someone is keeping an eye on you.

Speaking of the staff members, please allow me to share my amazing experience with you… As I was gazing at the recently released Porsche 911 GT3 RS Technic set, I humbly came closer to one of the staff members, picked up a list from my pocket, and asked him if any of the hard-to-find items on my list was available, by any chance. The gentleman cheerfully looked at me, and said: “Oh, you must be the guy from Turkey! We were expecting you… Mademoiselle Samantha (from Les Halles store) phoned an hour ago, and told me about the items you are looking for. Your orders are ready, Sir!”

After the initial shock, I stuttered: “Well… Thank you!”

Thanks to Monsieur Damien, every item on my list was already collected from the inventory room, and packed. Besides being a very professional staff member, he was also a nice gentleman to talk with. His English was better than mine. For almost half an hour, we geeked out over the discontinued products, second hand LEGO market in France, and latest additions to my daughter’s LEGO train set collection. – A truly exceptional experience. Merci!

The LEGO Store – Disneyland

This is a huge LEGO store established in 2014. The name speaks for itself, the store is in the heart of Disneyland, Paris. Believe it or not, this is the most crowded LEGO shop I’ve ever visited in my life. Thanks to Disneyland’s reputation, this must be one of the most popular LEGO shops in Europe.

When you look from the outside, this store looks like an ordinary LEGO shop. The showcase is quite good, with a huge LEGO logo and a few 2.5D canvas paintings built in bricks. At first sight, it looks like there is nothing special in here…

However, when go in there, you realize how big the store is and immediately forget about the lacking showcase. The mega LEGO structures simply knock your socks off. They are everywhere! Pete’s Dragon hanging from the ceiling, an authentic life-size reproduction of R2-D2, a magnificent The Sorcerer’s Apprentice visual composition from “Fantasia” with Mickey wearing the blue wizard hat… These are spectacular items. Frankly, even better than the ones at ‘Les Halles’ store!

The product range is superb, just like the other stores I have mentioned. However, stock availability is a serious problem here. I was unable to find quite a number of products which were available in the other LEGO stores, such as pencil box, eraser, pen set, a bunch of recently released Technic sets, and almost all Power Functions products! When I asked the reason for missing items, staff members complained about ‘customer circulation vs lack of space’. I am not quite sure if this is an acceptable excuse.

Speaking of the staff members at LEGO Disneyland store, I have to say that they are simply the weakest link here. They are not smiling, not enjoying what they do, and keep themselves away from the customers. Somehow, they chat with each other by the exit. Nobody cares about you. Yep, I know that it is very difficult to manage such a huge store with such a large number of customers in it, but what I’m complaining about is more than that. When you ask a few questions, all you get is nothing more than “Yes”, “No”, or “I don’t know”. Being aware of the fact that Disneyland is a place most people visit once (and never come back again at least for a few years), I don’t think that you are welcomed as ‘loyal customers’ here. If these staff members think that people come and go, and more will come tomorrow no matter how they treat customers, I’m afraid that is a serious threat to LEGO’s reputation. As a lifetime loyal LEGO fan, I’m truly disappointed.

Conclusion

I love Paris! This was my second visit to the romantic city, and I’m planning to do it again and again, more frequently. For my next visit, I have 2 official LEGO stores on my list that I would love to revisit; ‘Les Halles’ and ‘So Ouest’. Great shopping experience in both cases. Strongly recommended.

May the force LEGO bricks be with you! 😉