‘The Birth of Department Stores’ Exhibit Dives Into Origins of Consumption, Marketing and Trends

PARIS — Modernity and marketing convened in the rise of the departments stores in Paris, brought together as the French capital transformed its architecture in the Second Empire.

As small streets gave way to grand boulevards and Haussmannian buildings, shopping become a new religion practiced in the city’s temples of consumption.

A new exhibit, “The Birth of Department Stores,” at Paris’ Musée des Arts Decoratifs…