History
Tati Barbès
Before it housed District 23, the corner of Boulevard Barbès was home to Tati, the discount store whose pink-and-white gingham bags were a fixture of Paris for seven decades.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1948 | Jules Ouaki, a saddler from Tunisia, opens Tati at 4 boulevard Barbès. The name is an anagram of Tita, his mother's surname. |
| Post-war decades | The shop grows from about 50 m² to about 2,800 m². Goods are piled in bins with huge pink price tags; the slogan is "Tati, les plus bas prix" (the lowest prices). |
| 2004–2007 | The struggling company is taken over by the Vetura/Éram group, which gains full control in 2007. |
| 2017 | A commercial court in Bobigny names Gifi, led by Philippe Ginestet, as buyer. |
| September 2021 | The Barbès flagship closes for good; its 34 employees are let go. The building is slated for offices, shops and housing. |
| Summer 2024 | The empty store becomes the headquarters of District 23 for about six weeks. |
Why it mattered
Tati sold clothes and household goods at prices that working-class families across Paris could afford, and Barbès was its heart. Competition from fast-fashion chains such as H&M and Zara, and failed moves upmarket, eroded that model over the 2000s. For the neighbourhood, the pink gingham remained a symbol long after the store's decline, which is part of why a summer project for local youth chose this building.