Georges Dufayel was a Parisian retailer and businessman who popularized and expanded the practice of buying merchandise on credit and purchasing from catalogues.
12 Facts About Georges Dufayel
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Georges Dufayel is mainly remembered as the founder of the Grands Magasins Dufayel, a large and opulent department store in the Goutte d'Or district of Paris that sold household furnishings.
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Georges Jules Dufayel was born in Paris in 1855, the son of Achille Amand Dufayel and Marie Stephanie Nicolas.
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Georges Dufayel gradually enlarged the store to include a concert hall, theatre, and winter garden, and offered free lectures, science demonstrations, films, and performances there to draw in customers.
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Georges Dufayel built on Crespin's innovation by selling coupons or tokens that allowed customers to buy goods by making a downpayment of 20 percent of the price and repaying the rest in weekly instalments.
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Georges Dufayel became one of the first French advertising agencies that published surveys and compiled mailing lists.
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Between 1901 and 1904, Georges Dufayel published a real-estate catalogue called Indicateur Georges Dufayel, which carried advertisements for apartments and houses for sale or rent.
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The working conditions in Georges Dufayel's store were the subject of some complaints.
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In December 1905, the staff of Georges Dufayel went on strike, protesting the actions of two managers who were considered to be unfairly punitive and capricious.
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Georges Dufayel demolished the house and started to build an even grander mansion, designed by architect Gustave Rives, who had worked on the Grands Magasins Dufayel.
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Georges Dufayel used his wealth to create a seaside resort at Sainte-Adresse, near Le Havre, on the English Channel.
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Georges Dufayel's obituary in the New York Times notes that he was an officer of the Legion of Honour, a member of the Jury of awards at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and a member of the Paris Automobile and Aero Clubs.