A department store in central Paris announced on Tuesday the end of its cooperation with Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant Shein, which, French media reported, could see the e-commerce platform’s first physical store closed by this Christmas.
La Societe des Grands Magasins (SGM), owner of the historic BHV Marais, which sits opposite Paris City Hall a few hundred meters from Notre-Dame cathedral, has sold the store to a group of executives, led by Karl-Stephane Cottendin, the group’s outgoing CEO, according to a statement from the company. Agence France-Presse reported that SGM sold the store at a loss.
Cottendin, who publicly defended the decision to open a Shein store at BHV Marais last November, admitted seven months later that the decision was a “strategic error” and said Shein would “ideally” leave the store by Christmas, AFP reported.
The department store was largely deserted during the first half of this year, as many brands chose to end their contract with BHV in protest over the decision to allow Shein to open a store.
In May, as videos of the empty floors spread on social media, SGM President Frederic Merlin attributed the deserted space in an Instagram post to ongoing renovation work.
Shein did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the South China Morning Post.
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire welcomed the move to oust Shein. “A BHV that turns its back on ultra-fast-fashion is excellent news,” he said on social media on Tuesday.
A second BHV store west of Paris will also come under new management, while SGM will retain control of seven other locations, five of which have welcomed Shein this year, according to AFP.
The news marks another setback for Shein in the French market. The e-commerce platform was recently fined 22 million euros (US$25.5 million) by the French authorities for breaching consumer protection laws.
In total, France has fined the group 210 million euros over the past year, according to French media reports.
The opening of the store also caused an outcry in French society when it was first announced last year.
Protests broke out on the day of its opening and Frederic Merlin, president of SGM, was summoned to testify before the French National Assembly in November and the Senate in January.
Critics in France have long questioned the Chinese e-commerce giant’s labour and environmental practices, while voicing concern over its impact on the domestic fashion industry. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
