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From Celine to Louis Vuitton: looters hit luxury stores in French protests
Luxury boutiques and big retail chains were looted across France as cost-of-living protests turned violent. Celine in Paris and Hugo Boss in Lyon were hit, and the regional prefect in Marseille said 8,000 looters had been counted in the city.
High-end fashion houses and major retail chains became prime targets on Saturday as nationwide protests in France over the cost of living and the state of schools spilled into looting. From the Celine boutique on Paris’s avenue Montaigne to a Hugo Boss store in Lyon, masked groups smashed their way into shops and walked off with goods.
Business leaders voiced outrage. Alexandre Bompard, chief executive of Carrefour and president of the FCD retail federation, condemned the looting “in the strongest terms.” Thierry Guibert, who heads Lacoste and MF Brands, wrote that “Aigle and Lacoste stores are being looted, like so many other businesses across France.” No damage estimate was yet available.
Luxury boutiques in the line of fire
In Paris, the Galeries Lafayette flagship on boulevard Haussmann was targeted in the early evening, while stores along the Champs-Élysées had boarded up in advance. One video shows masked men ransacking the glass displays of a luxury store and pulling goods from its counters.
Another clip, which the account that posted it said was filmed in Bordeaux, shows a crowd in hoods and masks prying open the door of a Louis Vuitton store before streaming inside.
Bordeaux’s main shopping street, rue Sainte-Catherine, was hit hard: Decathlon, Intersport, the Apple Store, Nocibé and Snipes were looted or vandalized, and the windows of Galeries Lafayette were smashed.
In Lyon, hundreds of masked people massed in front of a Hugo Boss store whose windows had been covered with plywood. The store was later set on fire, AFP reported, and shops around rue de la République were damaged.
A Pyrenex outerwear store in Lyon was also stripped, with hooded youths rushing in and out with armfuls of jackets. The saleswoman reportedly had to run from her own shop.
Marseille: “8,000 looters”
Marseille saw some of the worst scenes. Regional prefect Jacques Witkowski said “8,000 looters” had been counted. In the Saint-Ferréol shopping district, dozens of mostly masked people emptied stores in the evening and resold the goods on the sidewalk, France 3 reported, while the Centre Bourse shopping mall was also looted.
At the city’s Fnac store, looters carried off phones, game consoles and headphones. A Boulanger electronics store was set ablaze and an SFR phone shop was wrecked.
Protesters also forced the town hall door, briefly entered and toppled a bust of Marianne, the emblem of the French Republic, while a municipal police station on La Canebière was ransacked. About 30 people were detained in the city. Mayor Benoît Payan called the scenes “indescribable and unacceptable” and said he would hold the state to account. Sunday events, including the Old Port market, were called off.
Small shops and fast food not spared
Independent shopkeepers were hit too. One video shows the owner of a looted phone shop sitting dejected outside his store, surrounded by shattered glass and empty boxes.
Dozens of stores were targeted in Rennes, a Sephora was looted in Poitiers, and a Fnac and Galeries Lafayette were looted in Chambéry. In one video, young people who stormed a McDonald’s went into the kitchen and fried themselves potatoes.
A day of mass protest
The CGT union and youth groups put turnout at about 800,000, while authorities counted 550,000. In Paris, a huge crowd packed Place de la République, where demonstrators climbed the monument at its center.
Clashes with police continued into the night in several cities, with fireworks thrown at officers and tear gas fired in return.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed that those who attacked prefectures, businesses and town halls would be prosecuted and punished. The Interior Ministry said about 400 people had been detained nationwide by late evening.
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