The Grands Magasins Dufayel is a former department store opened in 1856 rue de Clignancourt in Paris by Jacques François CRESPIN under the name Palais de la Nouveauté. Turned towards the working classes, it was taken over on the death of its founder by one of its employees, Georges DUFAYEL. The department store, which occupies monumental buildings, is reputed to be the largest in the world in its category on the eve of the First World War. It closed its doors in 1930. The Grands Magasins Dufayel played a pioneering role in the development of consumer credit in France.