Across Paris’ toniest shopping districts, luxury boutiques bear the scars of a weekend of rioting that filled social media feeds around the world. Now they are bracing for the possibility of another round.
On the avenue Champs-Elysees, Louis Vuitton’s flagship store has metallic grates protecting its windows that are not there at quieter times, as does the Christian Dior Couture emporium on avenue Montaigne, a nexus of high-end shopping in Paris’ eighth arrondissement. Both stores escaped serious damage last weekend, even as shops elsewhere were less fortunate.
Boarded up windows and doors line the rue Saint-Honore, not far from France’s presidential palace, where mobs on Saturday broke into and looted shops including those of Burberry, Christian Dior perfumes and Guerlain. All three boutiques remained closed on Wednesday, as did a Salomon sportswear store on the nearby boulevard de la Madeleine that was similarly ravaged.
An Hermes boutique on avenue George V, close to the Champs-Elysees, suffered broken windows. The brand’s store in Marseille fared far worse and “won’t reopen any time soon” after being ransacked by rioters, chief financial officer Eric du Halgouet told reporters on a call on Thursday. Hermes has since boosted security measures, he said.