The French word “quincaillerie” is not easy to say, even for French people.
For such a filigreed word, its meaning is simple: “hardware store.” But this is not the humdrum Home Depot or Ace of France. Nay, the quincaillerie is a world of its own, full of curiosities and inspiration. More than anything, it is a uniquely old-fashioned and particularly French cultural experience.
The quincaillerie used to be where metal goods for the home were fixed or sold. The droguerie, on the other hand, was the place to buy household supplies, like linseed or walnut oils, soap flakes or the materials to create dyes and paints. Over time, the two kinds of store have drifted toward each other, with some quincailleries selling paints, dyes and cleaning products, and drogueries selling a few tools and metal goods, too.
But what remains true is that the French go to these stores to get advice and the materials to fix a problem, or to improve their homes.
They are also bonanzas for travelers interested in an authentic French experience. They can usually be found down side streets in small towns or on squares in city centers. Without exception, every available space is filled, floor to ceiling, with drawers full of the smallest screws, keys, lightbulbs or tiny tools. Shelves are laden with local beeswax, soaps, kitchen implements, knives, brooms, dusters, baking soda, lemon furniture oil. Usually there are French-made baskets hanging from the ceiling and more things piled in buckets on the floor. The French call these stores “caverns of Ali Baba,” after the tale of the treasure-filled cave in “The Thousand and One Nights.”
Here are six of the best of these shops across France where you might find the perfect porcelain drawer knob made in the storied Limoges factory, a beautifully crafted folding picnic knife for a wedding gift, or a bar of local soap so big that it will last until your next trip to France (one warning, many of them close for lunch).
Paris
Quincaillerie Leclercq and Lejeune Frères
On one of the oldest streets in Paris, between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation, you will find two stores both alike in dignity and dedication to furnishings for “meubles de style,” or furniture that is crafted in a specific style, often based on historical trends or period designs.
Both the Quincaillerie Leclercq and Lejeune Frères have been in operation since the mid- to late-1800s, and both are small and similarly lined with shelves and drawers full of everything you might need to restore or fix up antique furniture. Here you will find exact replicas from Louis XV to Art Deco. Both specialize in metal pieces crafted in France and have hinges, handles, window cranks, keyholes and more to restore old buildings to their former glory — or just to give a touch of period-true beauty to your thrift-store find.
Artists, designers, interior decorators, architects and antiquarians journey from all over the world to consult with the purveyors of both places, checking the wares, before making their purchases. The old, dusty wooden floors creak as you walk in, and you will swear you’ve stepped back 200 years. Delighted by all the shiny objects ranging from 5 euros to 300 euros (or from about $6 to about $350), you will be hard pressed to leave without some bronze or brass curio tucked into your bag.
Quincaillerie Leclercq, 151 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, open Tuesday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lejeune Frères, 209 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Marseille
Maison Empereur
Maison Empereur is the crown jewel of French quincailleries. On an old, narrow street in Marseille, it has been in business and in the Empereur family since 1827. And though it started as a quincaillerie carrying forged metal pieces, the store now boasts more than 50,000 objects and an operatic operation with a team of more than 35 people to help customers.
You’ll be astonished by the household and kitchen gadgets you had no idea existed (like a special brush for cleaning mushrooms, or a metal tool for gathering nuts off the ground), the variety of French pepper grinders and the array of enamel ware to make your picnics memorable. There are skeins of cloth you can cut to your own lengths to make French linen kitchen towels, as well as stacks of sumptuous beach towels and thinner Turkish towels. At Empereur you’ll find lapis-blue French work clothes, an entire wall of French soaps (some on ropes, some as big as grapefruits, some with lavender, some with turmeric, others so dark green and olive-oil smelling that you might think they had just been picked from an olive grove), traditional French gardening hats, old-fashioned toys and more.
Upstairs, there’s a small residence for nightly rental that’s been preserved in the original mid-1800s style. For those less intrepid, there’s a salon de thé, or tea shop, where you can have a little pick-me-up before schlepping bags full of beautiful, useful things back to your hotel.
Maison Empereur, 4 Rue des Récolettes. Open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Lyon
Blondet
The city of Lyon is a world-renowned food Mecca, once home to the celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse. In the neighborhood of the Croix-Rousse, where, historically, the silk workers, or canuts, lived and wove the world’s most exquisite silk fabrics, is a tiny quincaillerie called Blondet. It has been in the same family since 1830, and Lucie Blondet, who now runs the store, still lives upstairs. Blondet’s raison d’être is to fix rather than replace.
Before you even venture inside, you will be tempted by the woven market baskets hanging outside (perfect for the farmers market held most days nearby), or the French gardening shovels and watering cans for children. Inside, you will find exclusively French or European products, including cookware and kitchen implements (like a tiny grater just for nutmeg), the renowned folding knives made by Opinel, local soaps, nontoxic cleaning products, gardening gloves, umbrellas and more. If you take a moment, you might overhear artists and locals asking the employees for help. Watch one of the staff go up and down a ladder, coming back with just the right screw, or with the perfect soap for an olive oil stain.
Quincaillerie Blondet, 7 Place de La Croix-Rousse, open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bordeaux
Besombes
Open since 1915, Besombes is hidden down a long pedestrian street in this celebrated wine city. It is full of reproductions made by French artisans of decorative items to help restore (or refurbish) homes in the style of Louis XIII and beyond, all convincingly crafted.
Originally run by the family Besombes, it was bought by the grandfather of the current owner, Nina Gillardeau. Not much seems to have changed in the 110 years since the shop first opened. “We are known for things that have disappeared,” said Ms. Gillardeau. Shelves and drawers are filled with tiny bronze, ceramic or crystal handles for every kind of armoire or dresser you could possibly want to spruce up; old-fashioned window cranks; vintage keys with accompanying locks; knockers for the outside of your door; and hinges, among many other items. The prices are reasonable, too. Some of the smaller handles start at around 5 euros.
Quincaillerie Besombes, 48 Rue des Trois-Conils. Open 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., closed Monday and Sunday.
Strasbourg
Droguerie du Cygne
In the eastern city of Strasbourg, there is only one droguerie still in operation in the city center: Droguerie du Cygne, open since 1868. Inside, you can find a hodgepodge of gifts, house and kitchen supplies, a whole section of natural brushes and sponges for home cleaning projects, products for wood care, natural skin products, soaps, slippers and perfumes. You’ll also find small items that might come in handy for a traveler, including umbrellas, knives, stain remover (for every kind of stain, each labeled carefully — “for blood and egg,” for instance) and cotton bags for the markets (the French banned plastic bags in 2016).
The owner, Diane Meyer-Stub, studied as an artist and then inherited the store from her mother. She tests every product herself and is committed to asking questions, consulting her shelves and coming up with a plan for any desire or problem.
Droguerie du Cygne, 24 Grand’Rue, open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Toulouse
Droguerie Taverne
In the heart of Toulouse, in the Occitanie region of southwest France, is the Droguerie Taverne. It is run by the 96-year-old Christiane Taverne Espinasse, her daughter, Béatrice, and Béatrice’s son, Sébastien. It has been in operation since 1892, always run by a member of the Taverne family.
In the old days, the Droguerie Taverne dried herbs and spices for the local pharmacy and also made pigments for paints. Now, they have diversified to carry things a quincaillerie might stock: cookware, mouse traps, lightbulbs, paint. In the vein of a droguerie, they also have locally made soaps from Toulouse, oils for different kinds of leather, wooden salt cellars, a local violet cologne, mosquito repellent, cotton shopping bags and more. If you are lucky, you might find the elder Madame seated in the store ready to tell you a story or two about how things used to be. Or you might just overhear as she and her daughter confer to find exactly the right thing another customer in line needs.
Droguerie Taverne, 14 Rue Saint-Antoine du T, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Caitlin Shetterlys new novel, “The Gulf of Lions,” set in France, will be published in 2026.
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