HIBAPRESS – Agencies
Luxury goods stores in France have covered their usually gleaming glass facades with panels and added security guards ahead of new protests scheduled for Saturday. Some intend to remain closed after rioters looted stores across the country last weekend.
France, the world's most visited tourist destination, attracts a large number of shoppers from abroad, who are looking for bags and other luxury branded goods, an important source of revenue for these brands facing a slowdown in demand.
However, some stores have deemed opening their doors to be of significant risk after last week's events, when rioters smashed and looted hundreds of stores in Paris, Marseille, and Bordeaux.
Staff said that a "Rolex" watch store and the "De Beers" store near the famous Place Vendôme in the capital would remain closed on Saturday. Meanwhile, managers at stores, including "IWC" owned by "Richemont," reported that they would decide whether to close their doors early depending on the intensity of the protests.
Groups including the National Union of Students of France (UNEF) and the Yellow Vest movement, which emerged as a powerful anti-establishment protest movement in 2018, intend to organize a march in central Paris later on Saturday to protest against the rising cost of living and cuts in public services spending.
