In 1893 Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher

Haberdasher

A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...

's shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d'Antin, Paris. In 1896, the company purchased the entire building at n°1 rue La Fayette and in 1905 the buildings at n°38, 40 et 42, boulevard Haussmann

Boulevard Haussmann

Boulevard Haussmann, running from the 8th to the 9th arrondissement,is one of the wide tree-lined boulevards created in Paris during the Second French Empire by Baron Haussmann, with enthusiastic support from Napoleon III....

 and n°15 rue de la Chaussée d'Antin. Bader commissioned Georges Chedanne and then his pupil Ferdinand Chanut to design the layout of the Haussmann location.