Back to the TF1 report “Zoom: Les Puces, the treasure market”

We find Yvette Tournigan at the Marché Biron, who leads us among the writing desks, secretaries, deposits, corner cabinets, mirrors and gilding. The antique dealer took her first steps at stand number 7, in front of her parents' shop. Her father was one of the founders of the Marché Biron, in 1925. She reminds us of the story of its creation…

The Puces were first the place of the rag-pickers. The one where, in 1870, they sold the fruits of their nocturnal quests, randomly among the objects thrown away by Parisians. Fifteen years later, the city of Saint-Ouen decided to clean up the district, asking the merchants to pay a fee to resell. In 1918, Romain Jules Vernaison obtained the concession of the land that still bears his name to build the first shacks there.

Built in 1925, Biron was the first urban planning initiative applied to the Puces, with real boutiques built, spread along two parallel alleys. From its inception, the Marché Biron stood out by offering well-chosen merchandise referenced in the history of art. Nicknamed "the Faubourg Saint-Honoré of the Puces", the demand for quality still drives the spirit of the Market today.