France's luxury stores board up windows ahead of fresh protests

PARIS — Luxury boutiques in France boarded up their normally glitzy windows and added guards ahead of fresh protests on Saturday, with some planning to stay closed after rioters looted 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 week's events, when rioters smashed and looted hundreds of shops in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux. A Rolex retailer and a De Beers store near the capital's famous Place Vendome will remain closed on Saturday, staff said, while managers at stores including Richemont-owned IWC said they would decide whether to close early depending on the intensity of the protests. Groups including France's main student union UNEF and the Yellow Vest group, which emerged 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. N