A butter boutique opened in Paris this summer has drawn enough traffic that its owner installed a bench and queue barriers within two months.
Le Butter, which bills itself as Paris's first shop dedicated to selling butter, opened in the 8th arrondissement during a heatwave. Owner Erwan Leo, 34, said he worried the heat and wildfires sweeping France would keep customers away. Instead, the shop has become busy enough to require crowd management.
The shop sits between Leo's wine shop, open for eight years, and a cafe that featured in Christopher Nolan's film Inception. Inside, candy-striped walls frame two double fridges stocked with 50 different types of butter, kept at 3C. The shop also sells branded merchandise including knives, hats and totes.
The opening reflects what the Guardian reports as a wider revival of butter as a food and cultural item. The article notes that butter is being sculpted for fashion parties, collected by tourists and hoarded in freezers across the world. Entire shops devoted to it now exist, according to the report.
The piece does not explain what is driving this resurgence or provide data on consumption trends, global butter sales or comparable shops elsewhere. It offers Leo's account of opening during summer heat but gives no detail on whether the location itself, the novelty, tourism patterns or other factors explain the shop's traffic.