La Droguerie

What La Droguerie does

La Droguerie is an independent bookstore and household goods retailer operating in Saint-Malo, France, under the legal entity SARL LA DROGUERIE DE MARINE. Founded in 1994, the company runs a physical retail location at 66 & 71 Rue Georges Clemenceau, Saint-Malo, alongside an e-commerce site at la-droguerie.fr, and employs approximately 11 people. It serves three primary customer segments: individual consumers and book lovers seeking literature across genres; professional buyers (educators, institutions, businesses) using the dedicated 'Pro' channel; and local customers purchasing household cleaning products, decorative objects, and body care items from the droguerie section.

The core product is an extensive multi-genre book catalog — including literature (180,383+ titles), crime/thriller (14,256+ titles), science-fiction, fantasy, comics/manga, children's books, young adult fiction, practical, academic, and general knowledge titles — supplemented by droguerie (household), decorative objects, and body care categories. The e-commerce platform is integrated with the leslibraires.fr network of independent French booksellers, providing shared customer accounts, collective marketing, and unified inventory across the network. Ancillary services include My Book Box curated subscription boxes, the Pop-Pop branded offering, podcast content featuring author interviews, and an in-store events calendar (Rencontres) of readings and signings. Pricing for books is governed by France's fixed book price law (prix unique du livre); other categories use standard unit pricing.

The business generates revenue through transactional sales (books and droguerie goods) via both physical and online channels, plus the My Book Box subscription. Online orders are eligible for in-store pickup within four hours and benefit from a 30-day exchange policy and free gift wrapping. The company is privately held with a stated capital of €46,000, no disclosed funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. Marketing is multi-channel but modest in scale: social media (Facebook, Instagram), an email newsletter, a blog, podcasts, in-store events, and the leslibraires.fr network. The business model is a classic independent specialty retailer, with community engagement, curation, and local presence functioning as the primary differentiators rather than technology or scale.

Name

La Droguerie

Legal name

SARL LA DROGUERIE DE MARINE

Website

https://la-droguerie.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

La Droguerie is an independent bookstore and household goods retailer in Saint-Malo, France, operating a physical storefront and e-commerce site that serves individual readers, professional buyers, and local customers with a broad book catalog, droguerie products, subscription boxes, and author events via the leslibraires.fr network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Bookstore Retail

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592), Health and Personal Care Retailers (456)

SIC

Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Books & Audiobooks Retail (E-books/Audiobooks) (CRALAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

E-book Subscription & Bundling Services (MPAJAMAB), Textbooks & Academic Books Retail (CRALAAAC)

Keywords

• Independent bookstore retail
• Book subscription boxes
• Household goods retail
• Author event hosting
• Literary podcast content

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint-Malo

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Book Retail: Retail sales of books through both physical storefront and online store, operating under France's fixed book price law (prix unique du livre).
2. Droguerie Products: Sales of household cleaning products, decorative objects, and body care products through both physical and online channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

La Droguerie operates a physical and online independent bookstore and droguerie in Saint-Malo, France, selling books across literature, crime/thriller, sci-fi/fantasy, comics/manga, children's, young adult, practical, and academic categories alongside household cleaning products, decorative objects, and body care items. The company complements retail with a curated book subscription service (My Book Box), in-store author events and signings (Rencontres), and literary podcasts. Online orders placed on la-droguerie.fr can be picked up in-store within 4 hours, with secure online payment and a 30-day exchange policy.

Product overview

La Droguerie is a traditional independent bookstore and retailer based in Saint-Malo, France, operating under the name SARL LA DROGUERIE DE MARINE. The company offers a unified retail experience combining books (Librairie) across multiple genres including literature, crime/thriller, science fiction/fantasy, comics/manga, children's books, and academic titles, along with a household and body care section (Droguerie) featuring cleaning products, decorative objects, and personal care items. Additional services include My Book Box subscription boxes, Pop-Pop services, podcast content, and in-store literary events (Rencontres). The bookstore operates both a physical location and an e-commerce website at la-droguerie.fr.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• My Book Box: A book subscription or curated box service offered by the company.
• Pop-Pop

Products and services

• Librairie (Bookstore) Physical and online bookstore selling books across literature, crime/thriller, sci-fi/fantasy, comics/manga, children's books, young adult novels, practical books, academic/scholarly books, and general knowledge categories. Available in-store at the Saint-Malo storefront and online at la-droguerie.fr with 4-hour in-store pickup.
• Droguerie (Household & Body Care) Retail section selling household cleaning products (droguerie), decorative objects (Objets/Déco), and body care products (Soins du corps), available both in-store and online through la-droguerie.fr.
• My Book Box A curated book subscription box service offered by La Droguerie for readers to receive selected books on a recurring basis.
• Rencontres (Author Events) In-store events including book signings, author readings, and literary meetings held at the Saint-Malo bookstore, scheduled via the rencontres calendar.
• Podcasts Regular audio podcast series featuring author interviews, literary discussions, and bookstore events, available via the la-droguerie.fr website.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 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.

• leslibraires.frcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLa Droguerie is part of the leslibraires.fr network of independent booksellers. Customer accounts are shared across all websites in the network. The network provides a unified platform for inventory management, e-commerce, and customer relationships.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cultura: French retail chain selling books, stationery, and cultural/leisure products with both physical and online presence. Competes with La Droguerie on books and complementary categories like stationery and household goods.
• Amazon France: Dominant online bookstore and general retailer in France. Competes directly with La Droguerie's e-commerce book sales on selection, price, and delivery convenience, representing the principal structural competitive pressure on independent booksellers.
• Fnac: Major French retailer of books, electronics, and cultural goods with extensive omnichannel presence. While much larger and broader, Fnac is a direct competitor for the same book-buying consumer in France, particularly in online channels.

Direct peers

• Leslibraires.fr: Network of independent French bookstores operating a shared e-commerce platform. La Droguerie is a member of this network, making it a direct operational and channel peer sharing the same platform, customer accounts, and inventory infrastructure.
• La Procure: French independent bookstore chain with both physical locations and an online store. Comparable in operating model as an independent-leaning bookseller with curated selection, omnichannel presence, and community engagement.

Emerging players

• Momox: European online platform for buying and selling second-hand books. Represents a different positioning in the book retail value chain but competes for the same consumer book-buying budget, particularly price-sensitive consumers.
• Babelio: French book community and recommendation platform. While not a direct retailer, it competes for attention and curation authority in book discovery, an area where La Droguerie also invests through its blog and podcasts.

Regional players

• Librairie Le Failler: Iconic independent bookstore in Rennes, France, also part of the leslibraires.fr network. Comparable in operating model (independent store + e-commerce + community events) and serves a similar regional independent book consumer base in Brittany.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DroguerieDeMarine
• Instagraminstagram.com/la_droguerie_saint_malo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-droguerie-de-marine

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 La Droguerie