There were several hundred this Friday, January 3, wanting to take advantage of the stock liquidation on the main Parisian avenue, which will definitively close the curtain in mid-January. But due to the crowds, the store had to close its doors until Monday.
It was the last cultural brand on the famous Parisian avenue. Fnac on the Champs-Elysées, which will soon close its doors for good, was organizing a major clearance sale from this Friday, January 3, to get rid of its products. Problem: there were several hundred this morning wanting to take advantage of the stock liquidation.
The store only opened its doors for fifteen minutes around 10 a.m., before bringing customers out and closing its gate, several people testified. At midday, in front of a queue that continued to lengthen under a cold winter sun, store managers finally announced that it would remain closed all day and would not reopen until Monday.
“For the safety of goods and people, the store will remain closed all day. It will be open Monday. Please disperse”shouted under the boos of disappointed customers a manager in front of the line which stretched for almost 200 meters. The group said in the morning that a crowd movement had driven the store “to temporarily lower the curtain to regulate the flow”before subsequently confirming the closure of the store until Monday.
Permanent closure
Fnac on the Champs-Elysées had announced that it was going to sell off its 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, 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, that of Saint-Lazare, or those of the 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 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”.
