In 1893, a fancy goods shop with an area of just 3 square meters was opened near the Gare Saint-Lazare railway station. Trade was going well; the shop was in a prominent location. In 3 years, the premises were expanded and named the Galeries Lafayette. Thirteen years later, its founders, Theophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn, bought up several nearby houses and commissioned Georges Chedanne for a project of a large Art Nouveau store. The establishment achieved such skyrocket success because for the first time in Europe, marketing services, as we would call them now, were introduced. For example, a customer could examine any product, choose one and go to the checkout, but before, trade had been conducted only through the department clerks. You didn’t have to ask for the price anymore: it was indicated on each product’s label.

Today, the Galeries Lafayette occupies a shopping capacity of 30,000 square meters and consists of several buildings connected by walkways, with three large departments: women’s, men’s, and household goods. The chain has several dozen stores worldwide, but like a hundred years ago, the first and main one is located on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. People come to the Galeries not only and not so much for shopping (although there are worthy offers from the best world brands during sales), but for a tour. The interior decoration of the main store building could host a museum or a theater, especially as the tiers imitate theater boxes. The huge glass dome, made in Neo-Byzantine style, looks like an expensive multilayer cake. Speaking of which, from the 6th floor, where the cafes and restaurants are located, you can see the dome at its finest. If you go up another floor, you will find yourself on the observation deck, from where you can enjoy magnificent views of Paris. Every Friday, the Galeries Lafayette hosts fashion shows.

The store gets an incredible decoration for Christmas. The ceiling-high Christmas tree is decorated with toys with Swarovski crystals; brand artists compete with each other in the New Year’s decoration of storefronts, and there are many animated ones. Since 2019, an ice rink with an area of 160 square meters has been built at the 8th floor level on the store roof.