There were several thousand this Friday wanting to take advantage of the liquidation of stocks at the Fnac on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which will definitively close the curtain in mid-January, but due to the influx, the store had to close its doors.
The store opened its doors for 15 minutes 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 that continued to lengthen under a cold winter sun, the store's 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”. The store “will reopen as soon as possible so that everyone can have a good shopping experience”we added, without specifying the day of reopening.
“Heavy deficit”
“For the safety of goods 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 (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Faced with the massive influx (more than 3,000 people) and a movement of crowds, Fnac on the Champs-Élysées decided to lower the curtain until further notice. There are people all the way to rue de la Boétie for this clearance sale before final closing. pic.twitter.com/PPxMiEWKbD
— here Paris Île-de-France (@iciparisidf) https://twitter.com/iciparisidf/status/1875132457479241813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Fnac on the Champs-Élysées had announced that it would sell off its stocks until January 12 before closing permanently. Last March, the Fnac Darty group indicated that this store, “heavily in deficit”was going to close its doors, without 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-Élysées was faced with “multiple difficulties”notably the increase “generalized fixed charges”starting with rent, and a drop in sales “due to a decreasing use of the area by the brand’s natural customer base”.
The group estimated the prospects “unfavorable”with “the increasingly marked orientation of the avenue towards luxury retail and international customers”.
France
