short ... PBof.com/hotspot
1370 The Villeroy family, food merchands at the Les Halles foodmarket
settled in an old House.
They invested into the education of their children and
over time the Villeroys became advisors
of the Bourbons and their house, "VB" a hotspot
in the Kingdom of France
.
1646 VB, Hotel de Villeroy Bourbon,
became the school of a young child
Louis XIV, the 3rd Bourbon King of France.
1671 The Villeroy children sold VB
as Louis XIV invited them to live at the future Versailles Castle.
Time for a new adventure, an avant-garde private hi-tech company, La Poste.
All international mail sent to Paris transists by the VB mansion.
1738 End of a story
The next King Louis XV took La Poste from it's founders
and moved it to a different location.
Forgotten in France VB remains
in the memory of another Postal family based in Brussels & Frankfurt:
the Thurn & Taxis
1986 Return of a Story
Johannes Thurn & Taxis shows VB to a young student
met during Paris Fashion week.
The building was still the same,
even the water fountain for post horses still in place.
The idea came up to awake Spirit of Telecommunications
The 11th Prince of Thurn & Taxis, who's great ...
grandfather
used to came by horse 250 years before
beleived
that the energy of VB was still around.
Sleeping in the old old walls
it needed to be woken up ...
The visit resulted in the mission to find a new Telecom idea
and a surprise 50 m down the road
the key of a small Boutique
soon used for
Sony Phones.
1993 Sony Phones from Japan and a little jewel left by Coco Chanel
made it possible to open the first Paris Internet cafe at VB.
The years 1995 - 1999 were more than difficult,
Sony's audio video products declined
and not enough people came by to use the cafe.
Being ahead of time, resulted in constant troubles like interrupted electricity lines.
Only a few clients,
already connected Americans travelling through Paris ...
Some of them would become extremely valuable
for the the future of VB, the still waking up Telecom hotspot ...
A few were alreday a little older
Jon Postel, the inventor of "dot com",
a astronaute from the the first flight to the Moon (in the above picture)
and a woman (also in the picture) that was very beautiful.
She was much older we beleived and came to get internet lessons.
In her youth, almost a century earlier,
she
had been a friend of the inventor of the Phone
you find at the very end of this page.
Other cafe visitors were still very young and nobody knew who they were.
Maybe the did not know it themselves ...
Today they return with Pop Up Stores for the brands
they have created in the meantime
which are part of the list below:
All this leading to the invention of Phone Book of the World,
1999 dec 31 / 2000 jan 25
Pop Up Stores & Films
Acer came from Taipei, Taiwan
to
open an Acer Pop Up Store
Ali Express came from Hangzhou, China
to
open the first International Ali Express Pop Up Store
Amazon came from Seattle, Washington, USA
to open the Amazon home of Christmas Pop Up Store
Badoo came from Moscow, Russia
to open a Pop Up Gallery
Casio came from Tokyo, Japan
to open a Casio Pop Up Store for the 30th anniverssary of G-Shock.
Coca Cola came from Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Coca Cola launched Coca Cola Creations at Cremerie de Paris.
Fanta born in Germany came from Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Fanta organised the Fanta Halloween Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris.
Fitbit, a division of Google came from San Francisco, California, USA
to present the latest Smart Watches at a Fitbit Pop Up Store.
The technology company was fascinated by the long tech history of VB.
Just Eat came from Amsterdam, Netherlands
to
organised a Just Eat Football Event at Cremerie de Paris,
home of the Phone Book of the World.
Klarna came from Stockholm, Sweden
to
to organise with for Shein a Summer Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris,
home of the Phone Book of the World.
Konami came from Tokyo, Japan
to open a Konami Pop Up Store to launch Metal Gears V.
Marc Cain came from Bodelshausen near Tuebingen, Germany
to organised several Fashion Week Showrooms
Misbhv came from Bodelshausen near Warsaw, Poland
to organised a Fashion Week Showroom
Netflix came from San Jose, California, USA
to launch League of Legends x Arcane at Cremerie de Paris.
Nike came from Beaverton, Oregon, USA
to open the Nike Barbershop.
Omada came from Barcelona, Spain and from Paris, France
for Omada Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris
for the Qatar World Cup.
Onitsuka Tiger came from Kobe, Japan and from Paris, France
for a Onitsuka Tiger Birthday Party at Cremerie de Paris.
L Oreal at home in Paris, France organised
the L Oreal Stylista Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris
Pokemon came from Tokyo, Japan
to
organised the first Pokemon Pop Up Store / Pokemon Center in Europe.
The waiting line almost went up to the Louvre.
Pokemon returned with Celio from Paris, France
to organised a Pokemon by Celio Pop Up Store.
Many Pokemons already knowing Cremerie de Paris returned.
Primark came from Dublin, Ireland
to organised an Influencer cocktail for the launch of the NBA collection.
Racer Worldwide came from Tallinn, Estonia
to organised the first Racer Worldwide Pop Up Store.
With a company founder only 20 years old they were the youngest brand to come so far.
RealMe came from Shenzhen, China
and opened a Real Me Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris and Fnac Forum,
RealMe loves the links between Cremerie de Paris and Alexander Bell
Renault came from Boulogne Billancourt, France
to organised the Renault Twingo Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris.
Shein came from came from Nanjing, China
to organised several Fashion Pop Up Store
Shein loves all the fashion stories related to Cremerie de Paris.
Shueisha comes from Tokyo, Japan and is the editor of Sakamoto Days
Glenat Editions form Grenoble, France helped to organise the Sakamoto Days Pop Up Store
at the home of another Book, the Phone Book of the World.
Siemens came from Munich, Germany
to
organised a Siemens Pop Up Store / Siemens Connected Gallery
Sodexo at home in Paris, France
organised the first Sodexo Pop Up Restaurant at Cremerie de Paris
Starbucks came from Seattle, Washington, USA
to organised a one day Starbucks Pop Up Cafe at Cremerie de Paris,
for the Press Launch of Chilled Stackbucks available in supermarkets.
Subway came from Milfort, Connecticut, USA
to organised the Cookieway Pop Up Cafe at Cremerie de Paris.
Under Armour came from Baltimore, Maryland, USA
to open the Under Armour Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris.
Unilever came from London, UK
to
organised a Omo Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris,
home of the Phone Book of the World.
Visa came from San Francisco, California, USA
to shoot a Visa TV Commercial at Cremerie de Paris No1 and No9
Weight Watchers came from NYC, New York, USA
to
organised the Weight Watchers Pop Up Store at Cremerie de Paris,
Physically present for a short moment only
all these Pop Ups are now part of the VB Story
Phone Book of the World
continues to make them
seen around the globe
Cremerie de Paris & VB
also a fashion story
Another Story that left
and returned
1648 started the construction of the "Pavillon des Drapiers"
The Fashion Center located
on the grounds of the left side of today's Cremerie de Paris
11 rue des Dechargeurs,
stays in place for 220 years.
It is the fashion hotspot in the Kingdom of France.
As a child Louis XIV watched it's construction.
His 3x great daughter-in-law, Marie Antoinette came for fashion meetings.
1865 Pavillion des Drapiers had to go
as the construction of the
future Halles de Paris foodmarket
bult under the reign of Napoleon III needed some of it's space.
1868 opend at the exact same location a milk store Cremerie de Paris
Rue des Halles became the central avenue leading to the foodmarket.
1870 The Les Halles foodmarket project was finished,
but its head designer, Empress Eugenie had to leave France
attacked by Bismarck the Second Empire falls.
Queen Victoria granted exile in the UK, where Eugenie lived for another 50 years.
As an old woman Eugenie transmits the fairytales around Cremerie de Paris
to Queen Victoria's grand children.
1910s The stories are so beautiful the young Romanovs loved them
so much they all wanted to travel to Paris to see Cremerie de Paris.
Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei didn't survive the Russian Revolution.
but the fairytals survived with some of their cousins:
Dmitri Romanov, later boyfriend of Coco Chanel
and Carl Solms, later babysitter and great-uncle of the editor of this article.
End of a Story
1970 Departure of the famous Les Halles foodmarket,
real estate promotors destroy the Pavillons Baltard repaced by the Forum des Halles
Cremerie de Paris closes.
Return of a Story
When a story is really beautiful it always finds a way to survive.
Nothing was left from the Romanov fortunes,
except a touch of glamour.
The glamour was called Coco Chanel and her magical friend Aimee de Heeren,
former WW2 secret service agent, resistant
and girlfriend of Joe Kennedy Jr (JFK's older brother)
Thanks to above mentioned Thurn & Taxis
a young student has the chance to Chanel's friend Aimee.
Half a century seperates the above pictures.
Aimee liked to tell her young friend about a fascinating inventor
she had met when she was very young
but as her real age was her best kept secret
the "young" student had to wait for twenty years
until she would give him his name:
Alexander Bell, inventor of the phone ...
Bell had once told her
"To stay young, you need to have young friends"
1993 The above mentioned Sony Phones and a little jewel left by Coco Chanel
make it possible for Cremerie de Paris to reopen.
Walt Disney's movie Anastasia mentions a Music Box "Together in Paris"
The Music Box is Hollywod fiction
but what remained from our great aunt Anastasia
is Cremerie de Paris.
Today as if miracles have happened Cremerie de Paris
has reopened.
It changes all the time.
One Pop Up Store is just more beautiful than the other
making the iconic location become a
Meeting place of the World's most famous Brands
Spirit of fashion
and technology has returned
more details ... PBof.com/popup