I accompanied my husband on a recent work trip to France—three cities in five days. We only had a few free hours in Marseille and the rain never stopped. No matter: we headed to Maison Empereur: France’s oldest and most esteemed hardware store, which, in Remodelista terms, is one of the world’s great pilgrimage destinations (it’s also one of France’s EPVs or Living Heritage Companies).

In business since 1827 and spread across two labyrinthine floors near Marseille’s old port, Maison Empereur carries on the tradition of the great everyday goods shop. It’s currently run by sixth and seventh generations of the Empereur family: Laurence Renaux Empereur, whose canny curation has put the store on the global shopping map, and her son, Martin Guez Empereur.

It’s filled with all sorts of intriguing things, some 50,000 of them, many of which feel like thrilling discoveries, such as Papier d’Armenie, booklets of paper incense; woven pink Lamp Cable; and wooden-handled Cleaning Brushes for Electrical Outlets. And, yes, Maison Empereur has an extensive online shop. But most memorable for someone like me, who dreams of discovered rooms and time travel, is the thrill of exploring a living relic—one with next to no visible intrusions from the 21st century.

Photography courtesy of Maison Empereur.

Maison Empereur has occupied the same block since the 1860s, but when Laurence took over, it had spread into four connected stores. She consolidated them into one location but preserved the twists and turns that lead from one department to the next. Laurence also published a book about the store and its history. And, this week, she opened a Maison Empereur pop-in in Paris: scroll to the end for a look.

The Spring/Summer Pop-Up: Maison Empereur à Paris

Maison Empereur is at 4 Rue des Récolettes in Marseille.

Here are three more of our favorite stores in France:

• Atelier Vime’s Summer Emporium in a Restored House in Provence
• Mix and Mismatch: Merci Reinvents a Paris Apartment
• Landline in Paris: A French-American Shopperkeeper’s Answer to Plastic-Free Living