Store of the week: La Cave, department store Le Bon Marché, Paris

Replicating this in a store is practically impossible, but what has been recently completed in Paris’ ritzy Le Bon Marché department store is a good stab at capturing some of the look and feel.

Dubbed La Cave, it was installed by Schweitzer, which also works on many Waitrose interiors.

White brick, rather than moss-covered walls, is at the heart of this space. It is the curving corridor effect that really creates the atmosphere of a wine cellar, but this is about reminding shoppers of where wine is stored without the discomfort that tends to go with the experience of visiting the real thing.

Dark floors and clean wooden perimeter and mid-shop fixtures (many of them curved) help to foster the idea that the visitor is in the middle of a cavernous underground space.

The lighting is also an integral part of the experience. Light and shade are central to the space, and the level of ambient light is actually quite low, allowing the wine to be the star of the show throughout. The wine is arranged by region and colour, with a curved black fixture complementing the red wines at one end of the department.

In terms of making shoppers feel that they have entered somewhere special and persuading them that it might be worth digging deep, this is a sterling effort.

Bon Marché tends to cater to locals rather than tourists, but for those filling the halls of rival department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, it is worth making the trip across the river to have a look.