"We thought it would be bigger, but it's still nice," said Ivo and Melissa Leon. Leaving the official Paris 2024 store at the Les Halles shopping mall on Monday, April 15, the Brazilian tourists' bags were well-stocked. On vacation in the capital for a week, the couple had spent a total of around €250 on sweatshirts, T-shirts and keyrings for their children, all bearing the logo with the face of "Marianne," the emblem of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On one of the shelves of this 80 m2 store in the heart of Paris, dozens of Phryges, the official Games mascots, sit proudly. Also on display are official posters, luggage tags, bracelets and the clothing collections of the French Olympic and Paralympic teams.
"The star products are the mascot keyrings," explained Maylis Martin, who has been working in the store for eight months, pointing to the products hanging along the shelves and selling for €15 each –the cheapest model of the plush toys. "Children are crazy about the Phryges," she continued. "Plus, it's still a mascot, so people want it." The pins, too, are a big hit. "During the Games, the real sport for fans is swapping them," said Martin. In the store, the best-selling pin features a pigeon – a somewhat humorous symbol of Paris.
A megastore on the Champs Elysées
Following the launch of the online store at the end of 2021, the location at Les Halles was the first physical store to open its doors in November 2022. Since then, six more stores have opened, with the majority concentrated in the Paris region, in train stations and in the Louvre and La Défense shopping centers. There are also two in Lyon.
Between now and the Olympic Games, other official stores will open in high-traffic areas: one at the Châtelet-Les Halles metro station on Friday, April 19, another at the Montparnasse train station on April 22. This will be followed by one in front of the Eiffel Tower in May, and another in Lille. A traveling store, in the same spirit as the Tour de France mobile truck store, will also follow the torch's route at every stage. At the end of June, a month before the opening of the Games, a 1,000 m2 megastore will open on the Champs Elysées.
"It's only going to go up. In 2024, we'll be doubling sales every month," said Edouard Bardon, director of licensing and sales at the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee (OCOG). Compared with 2023, when sales peaks were linked to specific events such as the return to school or Christmas, "consumption has been much more linear since the start of the year." During the Olympic (July 26-August 11) and Paralympic (August 28-September 8) Games, 150 sales points will be set up at the 40 or so competition and celebration venues, in addition to around 20 off-site.
'Excessively high' prices
With the Games less than three months away, these stores are also attracting the curious. In the small official store in the Gare de Lyon train station, which opened in February, many customers are just browsing. While waiting for his train to Nice, where he lives, Bernard (who didn't want to give his real name), a former top-level handball player and athlete, was "scouting": "I'm only going to buy [merchandise] during the Games, to experience them at the same time." He has tickets for the track and field and football events.
Allison Hoarau, from Nevers, had come with the idea of getting a pen for her daughters. The stay-at-home mom eventually went away empty-handed: "All the prices are excessively high for a souvenir," she sighed, pointing to an "I love Paris 2024" keyring priced at €9.90. "It's quite expensive, but we're paying for the logo, I suppose," said Chantal (who didn't want to give her real name). After a weekend in Paris, while waiting for her train back to Switzerland, this mother decided to treat her two sons, aged 7 and 12. She spent around €50 on T-shirts with the Paris 2024 logo. "We don't do much shopping. This was the last chance to get a souvenir," said the tourist.
"International customers are the most receptive because there's a windfall effect and the opportunity while passing through," explained Bardon. But as the Games draw closer, the French are also becoming consumers. "It's quite a mixed bag. There are as many French people as tourists. It also depends a lot on the period," observed Martin. According to OCOG figures, the average amount spent by customers in these stores lies between €40 and €50.
Paris 2024 has set itself the target of selling two billion products, including over two million Phryges, in order to surpass the number of plush toys sold at the Tokyo (2021) and London (2012) Olympics. The company's online and physical stores together stock 750 products, a figure that will double by the time of the Games. "For the moment, we've done between 30% and 40% of our sales, which means there's 60% left. Most of the work remains to be done," concluded Bardon.