Ahhh, FNAC (www.fnac.com) – the store that all the French know and love! With well over 600 locations throughout France as well as a substantial presence in several francophone countries, the stores are virtually ubiquitous – and when you’re in France, there’s probably one right around the corner from you! While FNAC sells lots and lots of books, e-books, animated comics, and stationery, that’s just the beginning of what’s available. And just in case you were curious, FNAC is an abbreviation for Fédération Nationale d’Achats des Cadres (National Federation of Executive Purchasing) and was established in 1954. Although long open to everyone, it was originally founded as a private buying club with the primary goal of obtaining lower prices for members. Who doesn’t like a better price? You’ll likely quickly discover that the company lives up to its “Qui Sommes Nous?” (Who Are We?) description of delivering a new way of doing business founded upon offering innovative services and higher quality products to their customers.
Books. Yes, let’s first talk about books because I love books and FNAC has just about everything an American could want in a French bookstore. Hardcovers, paperbacks, e-books (great to download if you want to read a book in French on your device and avoid a shipping fee), audio books (in French, of course), and even bandes-dessinées (comics). And if you want to search by genre, the site has over 20 different categories from which to choose including best sellers, children’s books, art, cinema, music, wine, cuisine . . . the selection is vast. Be sure to click around this part of the site and I’m confident that you will find something that you absolutely must have.
Tickets. Wow, very cool to be able to buy event tickets from FNAC for concerts, festivals (which are everywhere during the summer), and all kinds of other shows. And you can purchase them before you’ve even boarded your flight to France. I like that FNAC has structured the site in this manner because you can search several different ways:
- Concerts
- Theatre
- Comedy
- Sports
- Shows, cabaret (a definite must-see), circuses
- Museums, exhibitions, monuments
- Parks, fairs, films
- Classical music, opera, dance
- Children and families
You can also search by geographic region (Paris, Around Paris Southeast, Rhône-Alpes, Southwest, North, West, East, Center, and Other Countries [Monaco, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, etc.]) which makes it much easier to plan a trip across the country, especially if you want to see cultural exhibitions, museums, music festivals and concerts, and who knows what else that will catch your interest.
Music. This section is one of my favorite parts of the FNAC website. This is where you can buy French CDs, records, and even sign-up to stream French music via Deezer. I also like that the music is broken down by genre so you can easily get to what your interests are and browse through what’s offered that way. Thoughtfully, you can also buy concert tickets on this part of the site which I find to be completely convenient. Musical instruments are available too, even though I’m pretty sure they’re comparable to what’s in the U.S.
Video games and consoles. Pretty sure we have this 100% covered in America but, if you want to buy your child a game where the characters speak French, now you know where to go.
Films, TV Series, DVD, Blu-Ray. So, for the most part, I’m going to recommend that you consider Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Canal+ (VPN required) if you want to watch French films and television shows. This is what I do because it’s very fast, offers a myriad of choices, and is reasonably priced. I’ll soon be writing about this in detail via a separate blog post but, to me, this is your best bet. However, if you do want to purchase French movies and television shows in their original French and you have a DVD player, Blu-Ray player, or similar device, this is definitely the place to buy it. The site allows you to search by device, genre (includes television series), FNAC “Limited Editions”, cinema, and “must-see.”
Children, Toys, Babies. Ah, what child wouldn’t want a French toy or game? More importantly, what parent or grandparent wouldn’t want to get a French toy or game for that child or grandchild? This is definitely one of the coolest parts of FNAC site to just click around and see what you can find. Where to start? At the beginning, of course – you can peruse the following:
- Children, Toys, Babies. New items, best sellers, favorites, video games, children’s books, animated films, music for small children and babies
- By Theme. Board games, educational games, touch tablets, construction games, imitation games, mini-universe games, figurines, toy cars and race tracks, outside games, wooden games, robots, etc.
- By Age. Games for the 1st year, ages 0-3, ages 3-6, ages 6-9, ages 9-12, ages 12+.
- By Brand. Marks popular with the French such as Funko POP!, SMOBY, and Sylvian Families as well as familiar American brands such as Disney, Marvel, etc.
- Trendy Corner. This is definitely worth a look-see. New items, original gift ideas, design objects, wall decorations, trendy lighting.
- Decorations. Mirrors, statuettes, vases, clocks, sculpture, candles and scents, wall arts.
- Furniture. Furniture by room (living room, dining room, sitting room), couches, recliners, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, office.
- Beds. Mattresses, box springs, and bed frames.
- Lighting. Lamps, table lamps, floor lamps, chandeliers.
- Linen. Bed linen, bath linen, curtains, pillows, throws.
And while the next few tabs are for electronics and household appliances, I would definitely click on the recently added “Home and Decoration” tab.
Home and Decoration. French style being what it is – chic and stylish – I would take my time going through this section. Go ahead, make your house awesome.
So there’s a lot more to see but I’ll let you uncover your own happiness yourself. Of course, FNAC will ship to the U.S. for a fee so keep in mind that the larger the item, the larger the fee. I’ve skipped over electronics and appliances for obvious reasons – not only do we have those in America but we have a different electrical grid too – but be sure to check out what’s on sale and the 2-for-1 specials.
I hope you had as much fun reading this post as I had writing it. FNAC is a blast and I wish you the best in finding a beautiful piece of France life that could maybe find a place in your home.
Bonne chance!