Galeries Lafayette

The Galeries Lafayette (French pronunciation: ​[ɡalʁi lafajɛt]) is an upmarket French department store chain. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and other countries. In 2009, Galeries Lafayette recorded earnings of over one billion euros.[2] It is a part of the company Groupe Galeries Lafayette[3] and has been a member of the International Association of department stores since 1960.

In 1895, Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher’s shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d’Antin, in Paris.[1] In 1896, their company purchased the entire building at 1 rue La Fayette; in 1905 they acquired the buildings at 38, 40 and 42 boulevard Haussmann and 15 rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. Bader commissioned the architect Georges Chedanne and his pupil Ferdinand Chanut to design the store at the Haussmann location, where a glass and steel dome and Art Nouveau staircases were finished in 1912.