-
2024 bank holiday dates in France and how they are celebrated
There are technically 13 bank holidays in 2024 in France - and some are only celebrated in one area. Here are the dates to note
-
Property taxes, car sales, pharmacy strike: 5 French practical updates
Our round-up of recent practical articles you may have missed
-
Gironde department wants 1,000 km of new cycle paths by 2030
Authorities hope the lanes will encourage more young people to cycle to school
Marks & Spencer to close last French store
Favourite British brand Marks & Spencer is to close its very last store in Paris, six years after the company’s hailed return to the capital.
On October 31, the Marks & Spencer on the Champs-Elysée will close its doors for the very last time, with 517 workers set to lose their jobs as a result, reports French newspaper Le Monde.
Marks & Spencer will still be present in France, but only through its 17 food shops, and online.
The company has pledged that each employee to lose their job will continue to receive their usual salary for one year, and will be given up to €12,000 towards further training. This could cost the company up to €20 million, according to estimates by workers’ union Seci-UNSA.
The closure of the Paris site comes six years after it opened in 2011, which in itself had been hailed as a “return” for the brand to France, ten years after it was forced to closed 18 shops across the country and put 1,700 people out of work.
The Paris closure will also mark the final non-food Marks & Spencer shop to shut in France; the company’s four other shops - in the centres of Beaugrenelle (Paris 15th arrondissement), So Ouest (Levallois-Perret) Aéroville (Tremblay-en-France) and Quartz (Villeneuve-la-Garenne) - closed in early September this year.
The closure has come about after the company failed to secure any buyers for the site, including from companies that have jumped on similar opportunities before, such as Galleries Lafayette, Primark or Zara.
This could be a sign of a wider crisis in fashion retail, according to some analyses.
Stay informed:
Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter
Subscribe to access all our online articles and receive our printed monthly newspaper The Connexion at your home. News analysis, features and practical help for English-speakers in France