Fnac on the Champs-Elysées closes permanently, one week earlier than announced

The store, which planned to sell its stock from January 3 until its final closure on January 12, had opened its doors on Friday for just over an hour, according to the group, before letting customers out and closing its gate.

At midday, faced with a queue stretching for nearly 200 metres, the store's managers finally announced that it would remain closed all day and would not reopen until Monday, in order to ensure "the safety of goods and people", according to an AFP journalist on site.

The group finally decided on Saturday to close its doors for good.

"Faced with a very large crowd in front of the store this Friday, January 3, and in order to ensure security and order on the public highway, Fnac Champs-Elysées was forced to close its doors permanently in the morning," Fnac Darty said in a press release.

In March, the group indicated that this store, "heavily loss-making", would close its doors, without impact on employment.

"All of the store's employees have received an offer of a position identical to the one they held, under the same salary conditions and within another Fnac store in Paris, which they will be able to join in the coming days," he stressed in the press release.

In a warning letter addressed to the management of Fnac and relayed by the Independent Democratic Commerce Union, with a copy to the labor inspectorate and to the AFP, an employee denounced on Friday the "endangerment" of "the safety of employees and customers."

"No effective measures" had been planned, according to this employee, in the face of the "unanticipated massive crowd", up to 3.000 people, and the formation of a very long, "disorganized" queue.

It also cites a "dangerous store entrance" and an "unsuitable configuration", with the risk of "crushing" or "shoving". Finally, according to the document, unprepared employees had to deal with "mass discontent".

According to Fnac Darty, the store located at 74 avenue des Champs-Elysées was weighed down by the "general increase in fixed costs", starting with rent, and a drop in sales, in the face of "the increasingly marked orientation of the avenue towards luxury retail and international customers".