Nature & Découvertes

Nature & Découvertes

Nature & Découvertes was founded in 1990 by François Lemarchand. The retail chain, headquartered in Versailles, sells gift items and decorative products themed around nature and well-being. The wealth underlying the family office activity stems from this retail operation, which was acquired by Groupe Fnac Darty in 2019. Post-acquisition, the founding family retains investment activities through the historic holding company Mercator SA. The firm operates at the intersection of lifestyle retail and mission-driven commerce. Its store locations across France carry products including optical instruments, outdoor accessories, and wellness items. Investment posture is channeled through Mercator SA, which co-invested alongside LBO France in the acquisition of Origine Cycles. Geographic footprint concentrates on France, with commercial properties including the La Canopée headquarters in Versailles and a mixed-use property in Wissous. The firm holds professional network memberships including B Corp certification — the first company in France to receive it — and 1% for the Planet, committing a portion of sales to environmental causes. François Lemarchand continues to serve as Chairman of Mercator SA. His son Antoine, former CEO of Nature & Découvertes, now leads Nouvel Atlas. The family maintains philanthropic structures through Fondation Lemarchand and Fondation Nature & Découvertes. Day-to-day operations at the retail level sit under Fnac Darty management structure. The Lemarchand family's regional assets also include a permaculture site at Long Pond in Versailles. A genuine structural difference is the dual-track setup: the operating business no longer belongs to the family, but Mercator SA persists as the private investment vehicle alongside separately governed foundations. That separation between a publicly traded parent's subsidiary and the founding family's investment office creates a governance architecture unusual among European retail-descended family offices.