http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/world/what-in-the-world/pharmacie-monge-paris-south-korea.html 2016-09-20 10:14:01 A Paris Shop Turns On the Charm, and South Koreans Swoon Pharmacie Monge’s cosmetics and a nod from a blogger drew South Korean tourists in. The hiring of Korean-speaking employees kept them coming in droves. === PARIS — A to-do list for a South Korean tourist visiting Paris: Eiffel Tower? Check. The Louvre? Check. Pharmacie Monge That’s right. Along with the city’s famous monuments and museums, an ordinary pharmacy in the Fifth Arrondissement, marked with the traditional green neon cross, has become a big attraction for travelers from They crowded the store’s aisles one recent morning as they often do, filling baskets with piles of face creams, skin lotions and lip balms, with smartphones at the ready to look up items online, and suitcases in tow to carry them all home. “We are spontaneously put in Korean guidebooks!” said Alexandre Freyburger, the owner. The pharmacy has a dozen Korean-speaking employees to serve the tourists, he said, and some of its fliers and sales-floor video displays are in Korean. Pharmacie Monge is not the only pharmacy in Paris to attract foreign shoppers with low duty-free prices, a large selection and a multilingual staff. Nor are South Koreans the only foreign customers of Pharmacie Monge. It draws visitors from China and other East Asian countries and from South America as well. But 70 percent of the foreigners who come in are Korean, Mr. Freyburger said, and he chalked it up to a single stroke of good fortune: A South Korean journalist living in Paris happened to give the pharmacy a positive mention in a blog post in 2007. Mr. Freyburger noticed that after the post appeared, more Koreans were stopping in, so he started hiring Korean-speaking workers like Jessy Cornu. “After Jessy arrived — a Frenchman who spoke flawless Korean — it amplified things through word of mouth in a way that was huge,” Mr. Freyburger said. It also helps that many South Koreans, men and women alike, are big users of cosmetics and skin care products, and that popular French brands like Caudalie, Avène and Nuxe tend to cost much more in Asia. So tourists stock up for themselves and for gifts for relatives.