[3][4] In 1894, 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.

[6] 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.

This workshop for decorative art and furniture followed the Primavera of the Printemps store founded in 1912 by René Guilleré, Paul Follot's Pomone of Le Bon Marché, and the Studium of the Grands Magasins du Louvre.

[7] In 2018, twenty-two stores in small and mid-sized French cities were turned into franchises and sold to FIB (Financière Immobilière Bordelaise) a company owned by Michel Ohayon.

The architecture of the store is art nouveau, with a remarkable dome and a panoramic view of Paris that has made it a tourist attraction of the French capital city.

[17][18] The Galeries Lafayette group was transferred to non-Jewish Svedberg owners: the Swiss Aubert and the French industrialist Harlachol.

Ferdinand Chanut, Georges Chedanne's apprentice, designed the store's 43-metre (141 ft) high Neo Byzantine dome.

Théophile Bader acquired production facilities in order to make clothing exclusively for Galeries Lafayette under its own private label.

[15] This store then expanded to include menswear, furniture, toys and tableware departments and get involved in organizing events such as the rooftop landing by French pilot Jules Védrines in 1919.

[21] In 1922, it opened arts workshops under the artistic direction of Maurice Dufrêne in order to produce affordable furniture, fabric, carpets, wallpaper, pottery, and other household goods.

English-speaking staff in the concierge area help with Wi-Fi access, tourist information, or restaurant and taxi reservations.

The store's geolocation app helps shoppers find brands and access restaurants, customer service, and shop locations.