The owner of a phone shop sits helplessly outside his store, head in his hands, among shattered glass and scattered boxes after rioters stripped it bare. The scene sums up a night of looting in many French cities on Saturday, on the sidelines of mass protests against the cost of living and conditions in schools.
The looting hit small shops, big retail chains, luxury boutiques and shopping malls. About 800,000 people joined the protests according to the CGT union and youth organizations, and 550,000 according to authorities, while Place de la République in Paris filled with a huge crowd.
Marseille: a mall looted and “8,000 looters”
Marseille suffered the most. The Centre Bourse mall in the city center was looted, and France 3 reported that dozens of mostly masked people were emptying stores in the Saint-Ferréol district in the evening and selling the stolen goods on the sidewalk.
Looters carried phones, game consoles and headphones from the Fnac store, a Boulanger electronics store was set on fire and an SFR shop was wrecked.
Regional prefect Jacques Witkowski said “8,000 looters” had been counted, and about 30 people were detained in the city. Protesters broke the town hall door, entered its lobby and toppled the bust of Marianne, and a municipal police post was ransacked. Mayor Benoît Payan called the situation “indescribable and unacceptable,” and Sunday events in the city were canceled.
Lyon: Hugo Boss and Pyrenex
In Lyon, hundreds of masked people massed outside the Hugo Boss store, its windows boarded up. AFP reported that the store was later set on fire; shops around rue de la République were damaged and the tourist office was burned.
The city’s Pyrenex store was also looted. Footage shows hooded groups storming in and leaving with jackets; the saleswoman reportedly fled.
Luxury brands not spared
In Paris, the Celine boutique on avenue Montaigne was looted and the Galeries Lafayette flagship on boulevard Haussmann was targeted, while stores on the Champs-Élysées took precautions in advance. A video shows masked people ransacking a luxury store’s displays and counters.
In a video its poster said was from Bordeaux, a masked crowd rips open the door of a Louis Vuitton store. On the city’s rue Sainte-Catherine, Decathlon, Intersport, the Apple Store, Nocibé and Snipes were looted or vandalized.
Dozens of stores were targeted in Rennes, a Sephora was looted in Poitiers, and a Fnac and Galeries Lafayette were looted in Chambéry. Another video shows young people who stormed a McDonald’s frying potatoes for themselves in its kitchen.
Anger in the retail sector
Alexandre Bompard, head of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution and CEO of Carrefour, condemned the looting “in the strongest terms.” Lacoste and MF Brands CEO Thierry Guibert said Aigle and Lacoste stores were being looted “like so many other businesses across France.”
Clashes between police and protesters continued into the night. President Emmanuel Macron vowed that those who attacked prefectures, businesses and town halls would be prosecuted and punished, and the Interior Ministry said about 400 people had been detained.
