Consider these before shopping at Maison Goyard in Paris

I’d be lying to you if I said that shopping isn’t one of my favourite activities while in Paris (and Europe, general) - I mean, who could resist those VAT refund savings? On top of that, I think we can all agree that a trip to Paris can’t be considered complete without a little shopping spree and as a handbag girlie, I’m sure you’ve thought about getting yourself a piece from Goyard at least once in your material girl career.

They’re one of the oldest leather goods and trunk houses in the world (founded in 1853) with many polarizing opinions online about their bags and overall elusiveness when it comes to running their business. They’ve stayed away from traditional marketing for more than a century in their lack of online presence until very recently. Luckily in 2023, we have some sort of access to Goyard’s catalogs through their official website and Instagram account.

However, unlike most luxury fashion and leather goods houses, you can’t see prices or easily buy any item from Goyard online. To make matters a little worse, as of the writing of this post, there are only 35 Goyard boutiques worldwide. For perspective, the other famed and similarly exclusive French luxury house, Hermes, has 303 boutiques worldwide - which means that Goyard is approximately 88% less accessible than Hermes (excluding from the calculation the fact that you can still purchase a pretty good assortment of goods through their website).

In this post, I will share some of the tips I’ve learned about shopping at the Goyard boutiques in Paris so that you can come as prepared as possible.

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How many Goyard boutiques are there in Paris?

There are three (3) boutiques in Paris, they are:

• Boutique 1 (233): along Rue St. Honore in the 1st arr. for bags and small leather goods (such as wallets, card holders, etc.)

• Boutique 2 (Chic du Chien): along Rue St. Honore in the 1st arr. across the first one which specializes in trunks and small leather goods (such as dog collars, leashes, etc.)

• Boutique 3 (Printemps): and a must smaller one inside the Printemps Haussmann department store in the 9th arr. which holds a little bit of everything

• EDIT (November 2023)
  Boutique 4 (66): This is Goyard’s newest boutique on Rue Francois - it opened in August 2023. It’s a short walk away from the main boutiques - I’ve yet to visit this location and I have no information on the stock it has, but there are no intense lineups here yet (so I read).

Does it matter which boutique I visit?

Yes and no - it depends on two things: (1) what you’re planning to buy and (2) how much time you’re willing to burn queueing up.

Don’t get it twisted, regardless of which boutique makes sense for you to visit, you must be prepared to queue up. Due to high demand and unless you’re VIP, there’s no way for the regular girlie to book appointments at any of the Paris boutiques - but you can definitely be smart about it.

Out of the three, the mothership is Boutique 1. You will find the longest queues here as early as one hour before store opening. Due to the specialized nature of Boutique 2, you won’t find too many people queueing up here. Unlike Boutiques 1 and 3 that are open all day long, it’s also important to note that Boutique 2 closes during lunch and reopens after. If you’re looking for the shortest queue by number of people in front of you, Boutique 3 would probably be your best bet.

Most people tend to confuse which store to line up at between the two on Rue St. Honore but my rule of thumb is: If you’re buying a bag, line up on the side of Boutique 1 since they have the most stock - even if you needed to buy specialized leather goods, the SAs can always cross the street to pick up whatever it is that you need from the other store (this is what happened during my first visit when I bought my Artois MM and the Edmond Collar and Leash set for my toy poodle, Silho).

What is your favourite boutique to shop at?

A lot of posts online will direct you to Boutique 3 for the reasons I stated above - while all valid, in my experience, however, even if queues can be longer by number of people in front of you at Boutique 1, I prefer shopping there than Printemps for the following reasons:

1. Obviously, due to larger stock and colour selection available

2. There are more SAs on the floor at Boutique 1 than at Printemps. Having said that, although Boutique 1 appears worse by volume of people in the queue, I find that it moves faster than at Printemps since for the times I’ve shopped there, there’s 2-3 SAs only maximum (with one of them solely focused on settling your bill).
   
   For reference, in the past, I’ve waited 45 minutes at the Printemps boutique with four customers in front of me versus a wait time of 1 hour and 45 minutes for more than 15 people ahead at Boutique 1.

3. I appreciate the shopping system more at Boutique 1 than Printemps - you will get assigned an SA, finalize what you want to buy, get sat on the side and wait until you’re called to pay for your purchase(s). Personally, I don’t enjoy staying for extended periods of time socializing while shopping, so this systematic approach to getting as many people in and out of the store as fast as possible caters to my anti-social tendencies.

4. Finally, tax forms are prepared while you pay at Boutique 1 - once you’ve paid, you can go home. But the check-out process at Printemps takes almost just as long but to get your VAT refund forms, you still need to take your receipts and settle it yourself through the tax kiosks in the basement.
   
   As a sidenote: Most department stores in Europe subscribe to this method of tax refund form preparation. So far in Paris, it’s only at the Samaritaine in 1st arr. that prepares your tax forms as you pay for your purchase. As a disclaimre, I know prepping your own forms via kiosk is definitely not a difficult task, I’m just not always a fan of having to do it myself.

Any other tips?

Several, actually.

Artois MM in Black - Maison Goyard

1. You must be prepared to queue up - there are no exceptions.
   I’ve been to the store at times where I’ve had to line up for more than 30 minutes but I’ve also been lucky where I’ve waited for way less than that. Be prepared to wait your turn and be nice while doing so.

2. Do your research beforehand and make sure you can decide quickly.
   Please know the pieces you want and the colourway(s) you’d like to purchase - the SAs won’t typically spend a lot of time with you to try and get your decisions sorted and you will feel pressure due to how busy the store is. Make sure you know what you want and your backup choices.

3. Know your Goyard rules and quotas.
   More recently, there’s been some new rules surrounding quotas at Goyard - based on my experience and information from other handbag girlies:

   • Photos and videos inside any of the stores are not allowed

   • You can only purchase one (1) St. Louis bag per day, two (2) per year - and a maximum of five (5) items in total (regardless of product type) per year.

4. Be prepared to pay a little bit more in the event of a surprise price increase.
   As mentioned earlier in the post, Goyard is very secretive about their pricing - make sure you give yourself some padding in the event that the piece you’re eyeing ends up being a little more than what you’ve researched online. If you’re curious about ball park figures, you can search the PurseBop forum for updates on pricing for specific pieces from other handbag girlies around the world.

5. If you’re not an EU resident, bring your passport to take advantage of the VAT refund
   You can get up to 12% off your purchase - I’ve saved thousands of dollars shopping in the EU as a Canadian. Make sure you always have your passport on you just in case you end up shopping while exploring the city.

6. Not a shopping tip but: Do not take public transportation going back to your accommodation to prevent yourself from being a target.

I hope this has been helpful! If you have questions, feel free to reach out - otherwise, if you end up getting a Goyard, I’d love to hear about your experience!