Catherine B

Bottom line: DO NOT GO HERE!!! Not worth the trek to find this place, not much cheaper than the retail stores and not worth the savings to deal with bad attitudes and a bad taste in your mouth. They may have good merchandise inside but they don’t let you into the store without an «appointment» although the store is empty and the man was standing outside with the store door open. There is nothing on the site or on any internet sources that any appointments need to be made ahead of time. But to give them the benefit of the doubt, we ask to make an appointment, he precedes to look us up and down and makes a remark that their merchandise is very expensive and not cheap (although we are carrying purses and shopping bags from a couple of other luxury brands). I remark «I know» and stop myself from ruining my trip. Skip this store and head over to the other vintage stores in the city (there are plenty) and visit the actual Hermes and Chanel boutiques where I had very pleasant experiences!

Owner is rude and obnoxious.
Miss b: you are not superior to your customers because you have hermes and chanel bags behind the counter. Smile and be courteous and maybe someone will buy something from you.

This is a great place for vintage Chanel and Hermes. I bought two Chanel necklaces here a few years back — they have a very good selection of jewelry, bags and scarves. They are well known in Paris and internationally for these kinds of items and have a very good reputation. The salesperson who helped me was professional and I was able to negotiate the price a bit.

I want to make sure that everyone knows what this woman did:
My best friend and I went to Paris this month. It was wonderful. Everyone was friendly, helpful, and polite. My friend wanted to find a vintage Chanel bag, and everyone said that Catherine B was the place to go. We found it, and she does have lovely things. The store was just what we had hoped for and my friend ended up buying a beautiful bag. When she completed the purchase, she asked Catherine for the paperwork to fill out for the tax refund at the airport. Catherine replied that she didn’t have the paperwork and we would have to get it at the airport. Both my friend and I said that we had read that the boutique is supposed to provide the paperwork before we get to the airport. She said no, that was not the case, and we’d find the tax refund station at the airport and fill it out there. So, with that we thanked her and left.
Well, a few days later at the airport, we find out that the business owner is legally bound to provide that tax refund paperwork at the time of purchase. The airport doesn’t provide it and the tax refund kiosk doesn’t provide it. She screwed my friend. The tax refund comes out of her pocket and she lied to make sure she didn’t have to pay. She figured she could fool a couple of young girls, particularly American girls. She’s a crook. My friend should have had a few hundred dollars coming back to her, but because this woman took advantage of her, she couldn’t collect. Now that we’re home we’re planning a visit to the French Embassy here in San Francisco.
I would never, ever recommend this store unless you tell Catherine that you won’t make a purchase until she gives you the paperwork up front. She’ll try to cornhole you unless you do…