After its failed clearance sale, Fnac on the Champs-Élysées permanently closes its doors earlier than expected

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A end in pudding water for an emblematic store on the Champs-Élysées, in Paris (8th). There Fnac located at 74 of the famous avenue has permanently closed its doors, the Fnac Darty group announced on Saturday January 4, 2025, earlier than expected.

Huge crowd and excesses

Heavily in deficit, weighed down by the “generalized increase in fixed charges”, starting with rent, and a drop in sales, faced with “the increasingly marked orientation of the avenue towards luxury retail and customers international”, the brand had announced that it would lower the curtain on January 12, 2025. Before that, a large clearance sale had to be organized in order to sell off stocks.

The meeting given on Friday was a fiasco. Barely an hour after its launch, the store closed its gate, rushing out the first customers. The latter had come in too large numbers: the line had started to form at 7 a.m. and by 10 a.m., it had reached the end of the neighboring street. A crowd movement marked the end of the clearance sale.

At midday, store managers finally announced that it would remain closed all day and would not reopen until Monday, in order to ensure “the safety of goods and people.” Which will therefore not be the case.

“Faced with a very large crowd in front of the store this Friday, January 3 and in order to ensure safety and order on the public highway, Fnac Champs-Élysées was forced to permanently close its doors in the morning,” indicated Fnac Darty in a press release.

“Endangering the safety of employees and customers”

In a right of alert addressed to the management of Fnac and relayed by the Syndicat Commerce Indépendant Démocratique, with a copy to the labor inspectorate and theAFPan employee denounced on Friday the “endangerment” of “the safety of employees and customers”. “No effective measures” had been planned, according to this employee, in the face of the “unanticipated massive influx”, up to 3,000 people, and the formation of a very long, “disorganized” queue.

He also cites a “dangerous entrance to the store” and an “unsuitable configuration”, with a risk of “crushing” or “stamping”. Finally, according to the document, unprepared employees faced “mass discontent.”

At this time, it is unclear what will happen to the stocks. As for the employees, “all store employees have received an offer of a position identical to the one occupied, under the same salary conditions and within another Fnac store in Paris, which they will be able to join in the coming days,” it was emphasized in the press release.

With AFP

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