{"id":3229,"date":"2026-10-24T13:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3229"},"modified":"2026-10-24T13:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:03:52","slug":"frances-luxury-stores-board-up-windows-ahead-of-fresh-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3229","title":{"rendered":"France’s luxury stores board up windows ahead of fresh protests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Luxury boutiques in France boarded up their normally glitzy windows \u200band added guards ahead of fresh protests<\/a> on Saturday, with some planning to stay closed after rioters \u200clooted shops across the country last weekend.<\/strong><\/p>\n

France, the most visited country in the world, draws large numbers of overseas shoppers seeking Chanel handbags and Hermes scarves, an important source of revenue for brands facing slowing demand.<\/p>\n

But some decided staying open was too risky after last \u200bweek\u2019s events<\/a>, when rioters smashed and looted hundreds of shops in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

A Rolex retailer \u200band a De Beers store near the capital\u2019s famous Place Vendome will remain closed \u2060on Saturday, staff said, while managers at stores including Richemont-owned IWC said they would decide whether to close early \u200bdepending on the intensity of the protests.<\/p>\n

Groups including France\u2019s main student union UNEF and the Yellow Vest group, which \u200bemerged as a potent anti-establishment movement in 2018, plan to march through central Paris later on Saturday to protest against high living costs and cuts to public services.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Not in the mood<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez said on Friday that his ministry would deploy 70,000 police \u200bofficers, backed by specialist units, to prevent the violence that occurred last week.<\/p>\n

But staff at LVMH brands Louis \u200bVuitton, Dior and Bulgari said they weren\u2019t taking any chances and security at their stores near Place Vend\u00f4me had been increased for \u200cthe \u2060day. Additional private security to supplement the police presence in the neighbourhood is also planned.<\/p>\n

Nearby department store Printemps also increased its security staff, carried out safety repairs and added security measures to reinforce shop windows and entrances, a spokesperson for the store said.<\/p>\n

Hermes finance chief Eric du Halgouet said this week the company had increased security measures at \u200bits French stores, adding \u200bit was too early to \u2060say how much impact recent events would have on business.<\/p>\n

The image-conscious industry can ill afford further negative publicity. Consumer sentiment is gloomy worldwide, and tourism is slowing as \u200ba result of the Iran war<\/a> \u2014 contributing to disappointing quarterly reports at LVMH<\/a>, Hermes<\/a> and Kering<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n

Lidiya \u200bShevchenko, a sales \u2060assistant at a Graziella Braccialini store, said she doubted many people would be looking to visit stores anyway during the protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose the mood is just as important when it comes to shopping,\u201d Shevchenko said.<\/p>\n

One tourist who has already been \u2060put \u200boff is Cambodian Jerry Lay, who purchased several items from Louis Vuitton \u200bon the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do enjoy shopping in France, but after experiencing the protest (last Saturday), I\u2019d say it\u2019s 50\/50 whether I would \u200bconsider coming back next time,\u201d Lay said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luxury boutiques in France boarded up their normally glitzy windows \u200band added guards ahead of fresh protests on Saturday, with some planning to stay closed after rioters \u200clooted shops across the country last weekend. France, the most visited country in the world, draws large numbers of overseas shoppers seeking Chanel handbags and Hermes scarves, an important source of revenue for brands facing slowing demand. But some decided staying open was too risky after last \u200bweek\u2019s events, when rioters smashed and looted hundreds of shops in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux. A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}