It was in 1857 that a young Mayenne native of Jublains,[2] aged 23, Jules-César Decré came to settle in Nantes and was hired as an employee of Madame Motté's Grand Bazaar, located rue du Calvaire.

Jules-César Decré bought the building in 1898, then over the years, the store expanded by purchasing numerous surrounding businesses, totaling an area of 6,000 m2.

The father then temporarily takes over the reins of the business, helped by his daughters-in-law and two of his grandsons, Émile [fr] and Jean, aged under twenty.

Gradually the third generation continues to develop and innovate: publication of a catalog, implementation of home deliveries, launch of a food section, etc.

Business was booming, and the family always thought bigger: in 1931, they inaugurated in Nantes what was then the largest store in Europe, designed by architects Henri Sauvage, Louis-Marie Charpentier and Charles Friesé [fr].

The architects Louis-Marie Charpentier, Charles Friesé and the latter's wife Victoire Durand-Gasselin [fr], were once again asked to draw up plans for the new store which was inaugurated in 1951.

This commitment was not kept, with the sale of Frigécrème to BSN,[7] and led in 1981 to the resignation of Yvon Decré, the last representative of the group still present as chairman of the board of directors of the SED, as well as the dissolution of the band.

[4] A historic symbol of downtown Nantes, the « Decré » signs on rue de la Marne are still maintained and protected by the city.