The Maille store located on place de la Madeleine is a visual delight. Even if you don’t care much about mustard, you’re going to love this store and buy their products just for their beauty.
Whoever initiated this store is a marketing genius, the king of packaging!
It all started with Antoine-Claude Maille’s father who created, in 1720, vinegar that helped fight the plague due to its antiseptic properties. Antoine-Claude Maille settled in 1742 as a vinegar master and opened his first store in 1747 in Paris to sell his vinegar and mustard. He became the official supplier of Louis XV’s court and later the royal court of Austria, Hungary, and Russia.
His son took over the business and continued to supply the royal families of different countries. In 1845, he opened his first store in Dijon, which you can still see on rue de la liberté. Parisians had to wait until 1996 before having their first Maille store and then discover all the mustard and vinegar flavors.
Mustard is not a revolutionary product; in the first century, the Romans invented the first recipe. They mixed young wine (must) with ground mustard seeds (called sinapis) to make “burning must”, mustum ardens — hence “must ard”
Today, mustard is a condiment widely used throughout the world, but with its unlimited products, unique flavors, and exceptional packaging, the Maille brand brought it to a higher level of sophistication.
The store is very simple and elegant: the façade is made of oak and black marble and the interior is again made of oak, but with additional layers of black wood. The colorful jars and bottles take up a large part of the store’s decor. Each flavor has a specific color and they are horizontally and vertically aligned. It all looks so beautiful and well organized. You can spend some time looking at the flavors and taste a few in the store.
On the counter, there are different mustards that you can try with little crackers. You can also buy a jar and have it refilled each time you go to the store.
The store is colorful and eye-catching, and most importantly, the product is extremely well thought-out in terms of packaging. They have gift boxes with different kinds of products and prices. You can buy a wooden box with three kinds of mustard, a bottle of vinegar, and a bottle of oil, for €30.
The gift set of three mustard/honey limited edition is sold for €22. They have so many attractive products; it’s hard to refrain from purchasing some. I entered the Maille store to take pictures for my blog post and left with three mustard jars!
La boutique Maille
6 Place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris, France
📞+33 01 40 15 06 00
