In 1957, with his brothers Natan and Marcel, he opened a radio and television shop in Montreuil, then in 1968 inaugurated at Bondy the first French superstore for household appliances. The “contrat de confiance” of 1973 — the trust contract — would give its name to the principle: service before price.
The story
In 1957 three brothers — Bernard, Natan and Marcel Darty, sons of Henry and Golda Darty — opened a radio and television shop in Montreuil. From the start they laid down the rule that would make the firm: deliver fast, repair fast, and put the customer before the margin.
Eleven years later, in June 1968, they opened at Bondy the first specialist household-appliance superstore in France: eight hundred square metres, at a time when a white-goods shop ran to fifty. It came in the wake of May 68, and while Paris was remaking the world, the Dartys were inventing the washing-machine hypermarket.
In 1973 the “contrat de confiance”, the contract of trust, gave that rule a name, and it is the name that has lasted. Bernard Darty died in Miami on 15 December 2018. His stone in Division 13 carries only “Famille DARTY — Bernard DARTY, 1934-2018”: nothing of the firm the whole of France knows.
The grave
A family inscription of great sobriety: “Famille DARTY — Bernard DARTY, 1934-2018.” Nothing of the chain born in Montreuil in 1957, nothing of the first household-appliance superstore opened at Bondy in June 1968, nothing of the “contrat de confiance” of 1973 — the trust contract — which became the symbol of the brand and one of the best-known commercial slogans in France. A family name, two dates.
On site, do not miss
The inscription is plain: “Famille DARTY — Bernard DARTY, 1934-2018”. Nothing of the chain born in Montreuil, nothing of the “contrat de confiance”. A family name and two dates.
Visitors' questions
Where is Bernard Darty's grave?
In Division 13, avenue de la Chapelle, first row. The inscription is a family one, and plain: “Famille DARTY — Bernard DARTY, 1934-2018”, with no mention of the shop name every household in France knows.
Armand PeugeotWhen did the business start?
In 1957, in Montreuil: a radio and television shop opened by three brothers — Bernard, Natan and Marcel. The founding principle was to put the customer's satisfaction above everything else.
Pierre DesnosWhat was the “contrat de confiance”?
The contract of trust introduced in 1973, which became the emblem of the brand: fast delivery, fast repairs, the customer satisfied before anything else. It was that promise, far more than the goods on the shelves, that made the chain's name.
Charles ChristofleWhat was their first superstore?
The one at Bondy, opened in June 1968: eight hundred square metres, the first specialist household-appliance superstore in France. The warehouse had been moved there from Bagnolet the year before.
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