Retail Executives Speak Out After Store Looting in Paris

Stores across Paris and other parts of France were looted and ransacked on Saturday as a protest against the rising cost of living, bringing together students and demonstrators of the Yellow Vests, a protest movement that began in 2018 against rising fuel prices, living costs, and inequality, descended into vandalism. Some 1,500 shops and retailers in the country were affected, according to the Fédération du commerce et de la distribution (FCD). Among the boutiques looted, damaged, or targeted were Burberry, Christian Dior Parfums, and Louis Vuitton on Rue Saint-Honoré; Kenzo, Salomon, and Arc’teryx on Boulevard de la Madeleine; Lacoste on Boulevard des Capucines; and Celine on Avenue Montaigne.


“Today we have witnessed scenes of looting that have painfully targeted many clothing brands,” wrote Pierre-François Le Louët, co-president of Union Française des Industries Mode-Habillement (UFIMH) or French Union of Fashion and Clothing Industries, in a LinkedIn post.



By Sunday, calm had returned to the luxury shopping areas, with stores open again after closing late Saturday afternoon in response to the vandalism. Those that were looted remained closed, with boarded-up shopfronts, graffiti tags, and people busy making repairs inside. Graffiti tags read: “tax the rich”, “capitalism kills”, or “Fauchés mais en Lacoste”, which means “Broke but in Lacoste”.

Sephora kept almost its entire network in France closed after suffering significant damage. Catherine Spindler, president of Sephora Europe and the Middle East, wrote on LinkedIn on Sunday: “Yesterday, several of our stores in France were ransacked. Even more seriously, members of our teams were confronted with situations involving violence, fear and extreme tension […] Yesterday, we made the decision to close all our stores from 5 pm onwards and to keep our entire retail network closed today. Because no commercial consideration will ever outweigh the safety of our teams and our customers […] What makes a company strong is neither its stores nor its shop windows. It is the women and men who bring it to life. And their safety, dignity and well-being will never be negotiable.”



Burberry’s Rue Saint-Honoré store after being vandalized on Saturday.


Nicolas Houzé, executive chairman of the Galeries Lafayette group, also paid tribute to the teams on the ground. “Since the Yellow Vests movement, we have not experienced such an outburst of violence, which has had a severe impact on our stores […] Nearly all our stores were affected by this day of violence, with a particularly severe impact in Bordeaux, but also in Nantes, Rennes, Tours, Perpignan and Chambéry,” he also said in a LinkedIn post. “Beyond the destruction and the significant economic losses suffered by all retail stakeholders, it is also our country’s image, its attractiveness and its ability to welcome visitors in the best possible conditions that have been profoundly damaged.”

Thierry Guibert, CEO of Lacoste parent company Maus Frères, wrote on X: “When our Lacoste and Aigle stores are looted, like so many other businesses across France, it is not just shop windows that are being smashed. Jobs, years of hard work, expertise and the commitment of thousands of women and men are being put at risk.” He went on to call on the government “to mobilize, without delay, all the legal means at its disposal to put an end to this violence.”

UFIMH’s Le Louët added: “We are now asking for the support of the government, its administrations and all the political forces of our country, to condemn the looting and damage, to bring the culprits to justice and to help the victims: the ransacked companies. The UFIMH, all the organizations that make it up and all the structures it supports, will act together to limit the already considerable impact of the disastrous events that have marked France today.”

Student protests gained momentum during Paris Fashion Week, without significantly disrupting the event. The weekend’s violence comes as Paris prepares to welcome art professionals from around the world for Art Basel Paris, which opens to the public on Thursday. So far, the art fair and the many events surrounding it appear to be going ahead as planned. “At this stage, cancellation is not being considered, but very significant security measures are being put in place,” a spokesperson for Art Basel Paris said.

Tensions remain high. Several unions have called for a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations on November 5.

Several luxury companies, including Moncler, Kering, Hermès, Zegna and Prada, are announcing their third-quarter earnings this week. The impact on French retail performance in the fourth quarter might be addressed during the earnings calls this week. France is a significant market in Europe, alongside Italy. France accounted for 8% of LVMH’s total revenue in the first nine months of 2026 and 9.2% of Hermès’s revenue in the first half of 2026.

Addressing the nation on Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “troublemakers from far-left fringe groups, joined by numerous criminals,” who “engaged in unrestrained violence in our cities.”

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