Le Village Marche

I’m a huge fan of small boutiques, this is not a small shop by any means, but it has that very charming and welcoming feel when you enter & spend some time browsing. They have cute little gifts, a great card selection, but they also have a really great amount of home décor & even larger traveling bags & purses. I am absolutely coming back for the old school French soap bars that I feel EVERY home should have. There really is something for everyone, even my boyfriend would appreciate items from here. It’s not all feminine style items. Wish we had something like this in Silver Spring Md.

One of my biggest pet peeves about small businesses is when they close whenever they want. You are supposed to convenience the customer, not yourself. I know this cause I’ve worked retail my entire life. Le Village Marche always is closed early or not open at all on holidays (like Columbus Day, when everyone shops), and recently were completely closed on a Saturday because Oktoberfest was in Shirlington. Let me add that the majority of their stuff I find online for almost half the price. Also, the owner and the manager/​associate were talking bad about two customers in front of my group of four WHILE the two customers were still in the store. Last but not least, they have a highlighted note on their counter saying they spent x amount of money on credit card swipes. You’re kidding me. You are RETAIL. You are deterring people from buying overpriced merchandise because YOU don’t want to pay a fee!!! That’s incredible. Bottom line, «the store» is ridiculous, obviously lazy and inconsiderate.
On a happy note, they do have great merchandise, if only it was marked appropriately. Oh AND if the customer service was much better.

My absolute favorite boutique for unique gifts, cards and stuff for my home! I even bring in my dog — she loves smelling all the different candles. :)

Fellas take note — this is THE place to buy an overpriced gift for the special lady in your life! This French themed shop sells an overabundance of estrogen-​producing merchandise such as candles, perfumes, handcrafted cards, kitchenware, notebooks, baby stuff, etc. My boyfriend recently got me a wicker picnic basket from here and I can’t think of a more thoughtful or useless gift. Thoughtful/​Useless/​Expensive but awesome… those are the types of things you will pick up here and guess what girls love it!
Get your credit cards out boys. Le Village Marche is where it’s at!

I re-​visted Le Village Marche when I was taking a lazy stroll through Shirlington. I had a much better experience this time. Much cuter items were on display, such as:
— Candles: a plethora of lightly scented candles that smelled very relaxing.
— Plants: most of them were fake, but cute. Some were tiny. Some were displayed in bird cages or bell jars. Some were small sprigs in wooded boxes.
— Notebooks and journals: They have one calendar/​notebook called the Mom’s Agenda which was very nicely laid out. I am not a mom, but I would have bought this for work if the columns were less narrow. I could imagine this agenda would come in handy for busy moms or for someone who jots down short task-​type notes.
— Books: I purchased a book called 1,001 Ways to Live in the Moment. I normally think these kinds of books are cheesy but this particular one had some really creative and insightful ways to look at life For example: #202 is called True Reason — «Always know why you are doing something: If there’s no reason you can think of, it could be habit that’s motivating you. Now might be a good time to look at your actions, and ensure that they’re truly voluntary». Well said. I am going to put this in my office for reflection during stressful moments.
Le Village Marche is the perfect place to find a teacher’s gift, a thank you gift, a gift as a token of friendship, or a gift for that person who already has everything. The gifts are definitely female oriented.
I spent a relaxing 20 minutes on a Saturday sniffing candles, listening to pleasant french café-​type music and left the store smelling like french milled soap. Not too shabby for an uplanned stop-​in.
They also updated their website with more items, but it doesn’t have near the same inventory as the brick and mortar store.

I love this little store. I always find something fun… usually a gift. It does have an odd mix of things but that’s what I like about it.

Love, love, love– I can spend an hour in here just browsing all the items!
You need to look high and low to find items in unexpected locations and almost hidden away, frustrating but fun at the same time.
Candles and cards are the main draw here, but I have increasingly seen curated items such as christmas decorations, calendars, baby books and toys, books and vintage decorations (think birdcages, crates, tables.).
I usually only purchase a few items but leave with lots of ideas for DIY projects. Like the frosted $ 30+ pine cones I saw today. A lot of the items can be found cheaper online or at local markets if you have the time and energy to browse and get crafty at home. If you don’t, the owners of this store make sure that you have the luxury to walk in and find wonderful, unique but sometimes very expensive items.
Oh, also– if you are a die hard francophile or just love anything and everything that says ‘Paris’ on it, this is your ultimate source to bring Paris to you in DC!

Anna S.:scented candles: crack-​addled hobo: crack. I load up on my drug of choice approximately every 6 months. This brings me to Le Village Marche and what I’ve come to think of as my semiannual scented candle Easter-​egg hunt.
There are a lot of candles in this store. I believe they’re all by Paddywax, an excellent soy candlemaker, but I’m not sure, because they’re hidden all over the place.
The past two times I’ve been here, a helpful salesperson’s told me where to find the candles – this wall over here, behind that shelf over there – and on my way out, I’ve discovered two or three additional places where candles are on display. Candles with scents I like better than the ones I just bought. D’oh.
Of course, I could suck it up and just do an exchange, but then I get all insecure about looking like a neurotic candle-​addicted loser. Which is, of course, something I’m not. This is just something I do for fun on the weekends! Enhancing life, not escaping it! BUHUHUH I CAN QUIT ANYTIME I WANT TO

I love this store. I go for the candles and perfumes. It’s pricey, but it’s not because they inflate prices, it’s because they carry high quality stuff. I know this because I found a perfume I love and I tried to buy it online and found out it was the same price as they sell it in the store.
It’s a cute, girly place to browse and feel all fancy and French.

Whatever, the place is fine — but for someplace billing itself as a «French» spot, shouldn’t it be named «Le Marché du Village»?? At least if they’re going for «The Village Market» as a translation? «Le Village Marché» would be «the village of Marché», which technically IS a place in France, although I hardly think that is what the owners were going for…
A minor point, sure, but one that has bugged me since I first saw this place when we lived in Shirlington.

We bought our wedding invitations at Le Village Marche and we were so pleased with the service that we received from Kathleen and Natalie. We worked mostly with Kathleen in selecting and designing our invitations. She so incredibly patient and kind, a joy to work with. She is knowledgeable in customs and traditions and when she wasn’t certain, she sought information. Kathleen was also ready to meet with us when we stopped into the shop to review our selections and move forward with the order. Natalie kept track of our proofs and when we placed the order and had to stop it for something we forgot, Kathleen and Natalie worked to get us exactly what we wanted. I highly recommend Le Village Marche and think that anyone would enjoy working with these wonderful women.

This store is great! The owner and staff are polite and welcoming and I can always find a thoughtful gift in a hurry. The selection of baby items is great because it’s unique; I’ve never given the same gift as someone else at a baby shower!

I’ve been avoiding this place because I’ve been through one too many twee «French country» themed stores, and it’s almost impossible to do it well. But tonight I was in a nostolgic mood and went in, and the joke’s on me…
An unfussy collection of truly unique products I’ve not seen around here — like the fabulous aprons that are so cute you wish they were dresses — to gorgeous European-​style (and size) pressed-​glass drinkware, to a collection of early 20^th century postcards and miscellaneous local artist crafts like silver-​spoon napkin rings and handmade jewelry.
The aesthetic is unique, the quality is very high on all the items I saw, but the prices range from reasonable to indulgent. For $ 32, you can get one of the all-​cotton «cocktail dress-​style» aprons in a fabulous and modern print. Hobnail pressed glassware starts at $ 8/​ea, and a beautiful hobnail carafe was a slightly pricey but acceptablet $ 32.
The Laguiole knives are in the reasonable range, too — this is a STYLE of knife, not a brand, and the ones they carry are around $ 50 for a set of 6, and they’re beautiful and conversation pieces for sure.
A plethora of the usual lavender soap and herbal ‘provincal’ bath products takes up a lot of space, but the quality is good and the accent pieces like oversized soap dishes for $ 12 are better quality and more stylish than similar-​priced counterparts at Pier1 or World Market.
A variety of miscellany like wall hooks, books, garden items, unusual outdoor candles, cheese plates and oversized antiqued mirrors complete the range.
In all, a well-​curated boutique that has enough unusual options you won’t have to fear showing up at a housewarming/​shower/​wedding with the same thing someone bought at another French-​themed shop.
Oh and the sales staff is not saley at all — you’ll need to ask for help (very European) instead of being accosted, and you won’t find a bunch of teenage summer hires, either. A welcome respite from the usual retail experience.

Best place to find thoughtful and unique gifts. Just browsing there is enjoyable. Love their picture frames!

Sooooo… what exactly is this place? It’s like Williams-​Sonoma, but French. Guillaume-​Soh-​no-​MAH, peut-​etre? At least, that’s what you think when you see it from the outside — kitchen gear displayed prominently — but then you walk in and see an entire jewelry section in one back corner, and a baby section in the other. Dis quoi?
They’ve got unusual gift items that you wouldn’t find elsewhere, so it’s a nice place to pick up an original your friend won’t get ten of. Hand-​milled soaps and lovely-​scented candles, vintage drawer pulls, burlap boulangerie market bags, napkin rings from old silverware handles, framed antique postcard images etched on glass, sexy low-​cut, form-​fitting aprons. Did you say «sexy aprons»? I did. Just like house-​wivery was the hotness in 1950s and 60s America — these aprons are bringing sexy back to the kitchen, ladies.
The jewelry is funky, fun, cool. Wish I could afford to outfit myself in all of it. The baby section gives me hives, but that’s just where I am in my life right now. Others will probably ooh and ahh over the cute wittle monkey towels for the bath, or get excited by high-​priced designer diaper haulers.
A good place to buy a gift for a special friend, or to treat yourself on occasion… apparently owned by the same people as Verbena. Wish Verbena was as cool.

Such a lovely little boutique! Great for finding unique gifts, especially for this upcoming Mother’s Day. Next time you’re stumped for gift or home décor ideas, definitely stop by this store.

I went in here to look at the fancy pants diaper bags they carry (apparently a line that celebs carry). What I found was a great shop with lots of gifts for myself and friends. I totally raded the sales table to stock up on the type of great gifts it is always nice to have on hand this holiday season.
Things are a little pricey, but they are unique finds that are sure to please.

Guys — this is a great place to pick up small gifts for the females in your life. For $ 50 you can walk out with 3 or 4 unique gifts perfect for significant others, moms, sisters, female coworkers or clients. The ladies in the store are nice as can be and will put everything in a nice bag, take the tags off, use tissue paper — seriously, you’re out the door with a gift in 10 minutes flat and you never have to step foot in a mall!
Cool and unique gifts range from $ 5 on up.

What a find! Anytime I have to pick up a gift for a friend, co-​worker or employee, it’s perfect. Best candles around, great ideas for creative gifts and I normally pick something up for myself! The owner is super nice. I hope this place sticks around, good addition to Shirlington.

I stumbled on this chic little boutique after brunch at Busboys. Le Village Marche sells a little bit of everything from home décor to fancy soaps and candles to fine stationery. Look up, they have gorgeous mini-​chandeliers.