In 1893, Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn opened a 70 square meter (750 sq ft) store on the corner of rue La Fayette and rue de la Chaussée d’Antin. The modest shop was such a great success that they purchased the entire building in 1896. On the facade of the building, several styles demonstrate the successive enlargements of the store: Haussmann, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and the drugstore spirit of the 1960s. At the center of this unique heritage property is the neo-byzantine dome.

Today, the Galeries Lafayette are not only an iconic monument of the capital with a world-wide reputation but a 70,000 square meters store welcoming more than 100,000 visitors per day.