Words on the Mouth Bookstore

What Words on the Mouth Bookstore does

Les Mots à la Bouche (Words on the Mouth Bookstore) is a Paris-based retail bookstore operating as a SCOP (Société Coopérative) worker cooperative, founded in 1980 and located at 37 Rue Saint-Ambroise in the 11th arrondissement. The company specializes in LGBTQ+ literature and queer culture, offering books, manga, comics, zines, DVDs, and related media to individual consumers. Its inventory is curated around identity categories (lesbian, gay, bi/pan, trans, queer, non-binary, asexual/aromantic) and spans genres including novels, fantasy/sci-fi, romance, poetry, essays, feminist texts, and independent zine publications (189+ titles). Complementary offerings include gift cards (bons cadeaux from €15), a 'Goodies' merchandise line, and an email newsletter subscription service.

The business operates a dual retail model: a physical storefront open seven days a week from 10:30 to 19:30 (including Sundays), and a PrestaShop-based e-commerce website (motsbouche.com) with identity-filter browsing, account registration, and shipping to metropolitan France. The website is hosted on OVHcloud infrastructure, with editorial design and development provided by Studio Affaire à Suivre. No external investors, parent company, or private equity ownership has been disclosed, consistent with its cooperative governance structure where employees collectively own and manage the business.

Revenue mechanics are straightforward unit-level retail: individual items priced from approximately €5 to over €40, paid as one-time purchases with French VAT (TTC) included and shipping fees applied separately. The primary customer segment is the LGBTQ+ community and allies seeking curated queer literature and inclusive retail, with a secondary segment of general fiction readers interested in LGBTQ+ themed works. Marketing is conducted through newsletter/email, website content, and community word-of-mouth. No revenue figures, funding rounds, M&A activity, leadership changes, AI/ML capabilities, patents, awards, or regulatory actions were disclosed in source materials.

Name

Words on the Mouth Bookstore

Legal name

Les Mots à la Bouche (SCOP)

Website

https://motsbouche.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Les Mots à la Bouche is a Paris-based, worker-cooperative (SCOP) bookstore founded in 1980 that specializes in LGBTQ+ literature, manga, comics, and 189+ zines, operating a single physical store in the 11th arrondissement plus a PrestaShop e-commerce site shipping to metropolitan France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Book and media retail sales: Physical and online retail of books, manga, comics, zines, DVDs, and other media products. Products sold include novels, graphic novels, fantasy/sci-fi, LGBTQ+ literature, feminist texts, and indie publications. Prices range from approximately €5 to €40 per item.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Les Mots à la Bouche is a specialty bookstore that sells LGBTQ+ literature, comics, manga, zines, DVDs, and related media products. It operates a single physical retail store in Paris's 11th arrondissement and a PrestaShop-based e-commerce site (motsbouche.com) shipping to metropolitan France, with items individually priced from approximately €5 to €40 and gift cards available starting at €15.

Product overview

Words on the Mouth Bookstore (Les Mots à la Bouche) operates as a physical and online bookstore specializing in LGBTQ+ literature and queer culture. The company offers a unified PrestaShop-based e-commerce platform alongside its physical retail location in Paris. Product portfolio includes novels, short stories, historical sagas, fantasy (romantasy), science fiction, horror, poetry, essays, comics/manga, zines (189+ titles), DVDs, calendars, youth literature, young adult fiction, and merchandise. The store categorizes inventory by identity markers (lesbian, gay, bi/pan, trans, queer, non-binary, asexual/aromantic) and genre themes. Additional offerings include gift cards, physical store visits, and email newsletter subscription.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Physical Bookstore Physical bookstore located at 37 rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris, open daily 10:30 to 19:30 (including Sundays), specializing in LGBTQ+ literature, manga, comics, zines, and related media for walk-in consumers.
• Online Bookstore (E-commerce Platform) PrestaShop-based online retail platform at motsbouche.com selling LGBTQ+ literature, novels, zines, comics, manga, essays, and other media with filtering by identity categories (lesbian, gay, bi/pan, trans, queer, non-binary, asexual/aromantic) and by genre, with shipping to metropolitan France.
• Gift Cards (Bons Cadeaux) Gift cards (bons cadeaux) available for purchase starting at €15, intended as presents redeemable against books and media sold via the physical and online bookstores.
• Goodies and Merchandise Merchandise and accessory items including books, zines, and promotional materials sold in physical store and online as supplementary goods.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• OVHcloudminorOthersWeb hosting provider for motsbouche.com website. OVH provides server infrastructure for the e-commerce platform.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Gay's the Word: The UK's oldest LGBTQ+ specialist bookshop, based in London. Operates as a community-anchored indie retailer of queer literature, fiction, and periodicals — directly comparable to Les Mots à la Bouche in mission, customer base, and specialty retail format.
• Librairie La Hune (historical): Historic Left Bank Paris bookshop known for cultural and literary curation (now closed in original form). Comparable as a Paris specialty bookshop whose cultural footprint mirrors Les Mots à la Bouche's role in the city's literary ecosystem.
• Librairie Violette and Co: A French independent LGBTQ+ bookshop that curates queer literature, feminist texts, and cultural publications. Directly comparable as a French-market peer specializing in the same identity-focused content category.
• Shakespeare and Company: Iconic English-language independent bookstore in Paris with both physical retail and an online store. Comparable as a Paris-based indie operating an omnichannel specialty book retail model, though broader in literary scope.

Broad incumbents

• FNAC: France's largest generalist entertainment and book retailer with extensive physical and online channels. Comparable as the dominant incumbent in French book retail against which a small specialty player must differentiate.
• Amazon (Books category): Dominant online bookseller globally and in France via amazon.fr. Comparable as the broad incumbent that defines pricing, delivery expectations, and selection depth against which every specialty indie competes for online book buyers.
• Waterstones: Largest specialist book retailer in the UK with omnichannel operations and curated store-level assortments. Comparable as a broad incumbent that competes for specialty book buyer mind share across European markets.

Emerging players

• Bookshop.org: Online marketplace that distributes revenue to independent bookstores. Comparable as an emerging distribution channel that lets small specialty shops like Les Mots à la Bouche reach national/international online audiences without building full e-commerce infrastructure.
• RecycLivre: French online platform for secondhand books with a social/environmental mission. Comparable as an emerging French player reshaping how French readers source books, particularly for indie and out-of-print titles.
• Momox: A leading French online seller of used books and media, including second-hand LGBTQ+ and niche titles. Comparable as an emerging online bookseller competing for the same specialty content wallet in France.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LibrairieLesMotsALaBouche

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Words on the Mouth Bookstore