The Bon Marché Building of Asheville, North Carolina

The Bon Marché Building of Asheville, North Carolina, now the Haywood Park Hotel,[1] was built in 1923 by E.W. Grove for the store's owner, Solomon Lipinsky.[2] This was several years before Grove began construction on nearby Grove Arcade, one of Asheville's most famous architectural landmarks.[3] The Bon Marché building was designed by W.L. Stoddart, a hotel architect who also designed the Battery Park Hotel and Vanderbilt Hotel.[4]

The Bon Marché

Postcard of The Bon Marché

Haywood Park Hotel in 2019

It now houses the Haywood Park Hotel, a member of Historic Hotels of America.

This new building served as a larger location for the Bon Marché, originally called Lipinsky and Ellick, which was founded in downtown Asheville in the 1890s.[5] The owner, Solomon Lipinsky, was a prominent Jewish businessman and community leader in Asheville.[6] from the 1890s to 1978, nearly 90 years, the Bon Marché became the longest running department store in Asheville's history.[7] The name Bon Marché, meaning "the good deal" or "the good market" in French, came from Le Bon Marché, one of the world's first department stores located in Paris.[8]

In a 1938 letter to Solomon Lipinsky's son, Lewis Lipinsky, in preparation for the store's 50th anniversary, Asheville author Thomas Wolfe says "…Bon Marché is such a landmark in Asheville life that if I ever heard anything had happened to it I think I should feel almost as if Beaucatcher Mountain had been violently removed from the landscape by some force of nature. I know that as long as I can remember, at any rate, it has always stood with the women folk at home for the best in merchandise and fashion…"[9]

After The Bon Marché Store moved across the street in 1937, Ivey's Department Store took over the Bon Marché building. Ivey's Department Store became a staple in downtown Asheville during the mid-20th century.

In 1985 the Bon Marché building was renovated with the removal of some 1950s and 1960s additions, such as a semicircular awning incompatible with the building's original style. The Haywood Street Redevelopment Corp. converted it into the Haywood Park Hotel and Atrium, a multi-use property which currently houses the Haywood Park Hotel, Isa's French Bistro,[10] as well as retail and office spaces; the conversion was completed in 1988.[11][12] The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America.[13]