While in Paris Sam and party stayed at the Grand Hotel du Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli [MTL 2: 72n1]. [MTDBD]

In 1855, Alfred Chauchard, who had been a clerk of the Au Pauvre Diable store with a salary of 25 Francs per month, joined Auguste Hériot and Léonce Faré to rent the ground floor of Le Grand Hôtel du Louvre, which had just opened its doors in Paris on the rue de Rivoli in a building constructed in 1852 by the Péreire brothers at the request of the Baron Haussmann, the prefect of the Seine. \ On the ground floor of the building, Faré's company, Chauchard, Hériot et Compagnie, established a store for fashion called Les Galeries du Louvre. The building was rented by La Compagnie Immobilière de Paris. The Péreire brothers financed the launching of the business and, in 1860, took shares in the company.

In 1857, Faré withdrew, mistakenly, because commerce did not cease thriving. In 1865, the enterprise realised 15 million in sales and 41 million ten years later. At that time, it employed about 2,400 people, and Chauchard and Hériot became extremely rich.

In 1875, the two associates were able to repurchase the entire building. They transferred the Hôtel du Louvre to other side of the Place du Palais-Royal, where it is still today and, after two years of work, opened Les Grands Magasins du Louvre.

Wikipedia: Grands Magasins du Louvre