Many of them came to sniff out a good deal, a few days after Christmas. Obviously too much. After announcing a clearance sale before its final closure scheduled for mid-January, the Fnac on the Champs Elysées, in Paris, was a victim of its success this Friday, January 3.
The store was in fact forced to close its doors just after opening, overwhelmed by the influx of curious people. Several thousand customers were therefore champing at the bit this Friday, sometimes for several hours. The queue stretched for hundreds of meters, spilling onto Rue de la Boétie, adjacent to the avenue.
“It was an opportunity to give yourself one last Christmas present”
“I was behind the avenue, I couldn’t see the entrance to the store because of the crowd,” says Martin, an 18-year-old student who came specially from Villiers-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). at 9:50 a.m. to try to buy a drone at a knockdown price. It was an opportunity to give ourselves one last Christmas present, but perhaps there is still hope.” Like him, a few dozen customers waited for a Christmas miracle until past noon. And this despite the signs indicating the closure of the store and the presence of law enforcement.
“I think it will reopen today [vendredi]. It’s intriguing, there’s too much security for it not to reopen,” said William, 36, who came from Saint-Denis to hunt for cameras. Same state of mind with Grace, originally from Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). “We stay ahead, you never know,” slips the young business student, looking for new airpods. One of his friends went to buy products at discounted prices, with the idea of reselling them.
“A little ashamed to have waited 4 hours”
Before disappearing, a police officer tells us of a possible reopening… Monday morning. “If people were able to return, half of the items must have been sold, but we will still come back,” said Tom and Emma, who came from Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Clearance must continue until January 12, before closing. In March 2024, the Fnac Darty group announced its departure from Avenue des Champs Elysées after twenty-seven years of presence, justifying its decision by a store suffering from a heavy deficit.
Contacted by 20 MinutesFnac has not yet announced an official date for the reopening of this sale. Earlier in the morning, after 15 minutes of opening, a manager indicated a reopening on Monday in front of the crowd of customers, AFP noted.
Around 2 p.m., after the departure of the police, the customers were calmly dispersing. Martin, for his part, stuck to the fence, not yet resigned, while being aware of the limits of his approach. “Really, it’s a bit of a shame to have waited 4 hours in the cold for nothing,” breathes the student, who is resuming classes and will not be able to return on Monday in the event of reopening.
The tourists wonder what is happening as they move forward. A few steps away, a street singer drowns out the ambient noise of the avenue with loud blasts of Adèle classics, the sound system blasting. “Do you know when it opens? », repeat the newcomers tirelessly, mingling with the last disappointed ones.
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