The Fnac Parisienne des Champs-Elysées opened its doors for 15 minutes this Friday around 10 a.m., before bringing out the customers and closing its gate, several people told an AFP journalist on site.
At midday, in front of a queue which continued to lie under a cold winter sun, store managers finally announced that it would remain closed all day and would not reopen until Monday.
Questioned by AFP, the group indicated in the morning that a crowd movement had driven the store “to temporarily lower the curtain to regulate the flow”.
“For the safety of property and people, the store will remain closed all day. It will be open Monday. Please disperse”shouted a manager in front of a line that stretched for nearly 200 meters, to the boos of disappointed customers.
“I’ve been here since 8:45 a.m., they can sell off 50 to 70%”Karim told AFP. “I come for electronics, it seems that there can be sales of 30 to 80%”explained Kevin, who came from Stains in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Permanent closure on January 12
Fnac on the Champs-Elysées announced that it would sell off your stocks until January 12 before closing permanently. In March, the Fnac Darty group indicated that this store, “heavily in deficit”, was going to close its doors, with no impact on employment.
“The plan to close the store at the end of this year 2024 is the only economically reasonable and socially responsible decision”said the group, specifying that the 101 employees of the store would be offered “a position offer identical to the one held, under the same salary conditions, within another Fnac store in Paris”citing the stores in Ternes, Saint-Lazare, Forum des Halles, Montparnasse and Beaugrenelle.
According to Fnac Darty, the store located at 74 avenue des Champs-Elysées was faced with “multiple difficulties”notably theaugmentation “generalized fixed charges”starting with the rent, and a decline in sales “due to a decreasing use of the area by the brand’s natural clientele”.
The group estimated the prospects “unfavorable”, with “the increasingly marked orientation of the avenue towards luxury retail and international customers”.
