The weekend of October 17-18 marked France’s most significant outbreak of civil unrest since the Yellow Vest demonstrations of 2018, with violence spreading across dozens of cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Limoges, where fire nearly destroyed the historic city hall.

For luxury brands, the protests highlighted a growing concern: stores have become high-profile targets, exposing not only valuable merchandise but also employees and customers to increased risk.

The unrest emerged from student-led protests over underfunded schools and deteriorating learning conditions before drawing support from other activist groups organizing demonstrations against broader social injustices, according to AP. 

French authorities said that 2,400 people were arrested and thousands of businesses were damaged over the October 17-18 weekend. But unlike previous protests, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the current disorder “organized in an unprecedented way.” 

On the one hand, far-left activists are attacking the symbols of capitalism and the global economy, such as banks and McDonald’s. On the other hand, looters are targeting retailers to steal goods.“Their aim is not symbolic. It is acquisitive,” said Sebastian Roché, a research professor at the Sciences Po Grenoble political institute who studies policing.  

Carrefour, France’s largest retailer, reported damage to 50 stores, including about 20 that were looted. According to Reuters, finance chief Matthieu Malige said the total impact could be between €80 million ($90 million) and €200 million ($225 million) of operating income. Looking further, Alexandre Bompard, who is both Carrefour’s chief executive and president of France’s retail trade federation, said the retail sector’s damage could mount to “several hundreds of millions of euros,” yet he acknowledged it is still too early to tell.    

And nowhere is that loss more sharply felt than at luxury retailers. Vinted, a popular second-hand resale platform in France, is already seeing an onslaught in luxury listings suspected of being the fruits of looting. The company stated it has taken “immediate action to identify and remove listings linked to looting,” stepped up monitoring suspicious activity and will permanently ban accounts that violate its rules. 

Meanwhile, France’s minister of AI and digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, said that suspicious listings are appearing on other platforms as well. Representatives from the Ministries of the Interior and Justice are meeting with e-commerce platforms to coordinate how to handle listings for looted goods. “Such behaviors will not go unpunished. We will not let them slide,” she stated on X.

Assessing The Damage

With protests erupting across dozens of French cities, the attacks on luxury retailers have been both targeted and severe. And the threat is not just to property, but the safety of customers and people who work in those establishments.

Luxury department store retailer Galeries Lafayette, with about 50 stores nationwide, was particularly hard hit. CEO Nicolas Houzé said on LinkedIn “almost all of our points of sale were affected by this day of violence,” as he condemned the “gratuitous vandalism” and mourned the damage to France’s reputation as a welcoming destination for visitors.    

LVMH’s beauty retailer, Sephora was forced to close its entire French network after several stores were looted. Catherine Spindler, president of Europe and the Middle East, expressed the utmost concern for employees and customers. “No business consideration will ever weigh more than the safety of our teams and customers,” she said.  Global president and CEO Guillaume Motte added his support for Spindler’s decisions. 

Other LVMH brands have suffered as well. Louis Vuitton stores in Bordeaux and Marseille were looted, as were Christian Dior, Kenzo and Celine stores in Paris. Moncler, Burberry, Longchamp, Swarovski and Rolex stores also fell victim to the violence in Paris, while a Hermès store was looted in Marseille. Apple, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Arc’teryx and Lacoste and its Aigle stores were similarly targeted. 

Lacoste CEO Thierry Guibert said, “When our Lacoste and Aigle stores are looted, like so many other businesses across France, it is not only shop windows that are being smashed. It is jobs, years of work, know-how and the commitment of thousands of women and men that are being put at risk.” Lacoste operates 150 storefronts across France. 

Meanwhile, Art Basel Paris—which drew about 70,000 visitors last year—is scheduled to open early this week to VIP guests, to the general public on Thursday and run through Sunday at the Grand Palais. Heightened security measures will be in place, including anti-ram barriers and 24-hour perimeter security. Nonetheless, the protest news cycle will likely discourage attendance. 

History Repeats Itself

The current unrest hearkens back to the Yellow Vest protests of November and December 2018. Then, as now, a protest movement that began with a narrow band of grievances has erupted into something more widespread and volatile, drawing in far-left activists and opportunistic looters in acts of violence and public disorder. Businesses and the general public are angered by the disruption to their daily lives that the authorities have so far been unable to quell.

As Professor Roché said, “In terms of destruction and damage, it is probably close to the first two weekends of December 2018.” But the current round of protests appears to be picking up steam, rather than leveling off.

Last time, France’s Economic Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee of the National Assembly found retail was on the front line. It assessed shopping center losses at $2.2 billion (€2 billion) with turnover down between 20% to 30% compared to the previous year. Tourism rates fell by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2019, with an immediate loss of nearly $1 billion (€850 million) in hotel, café and restaurant receipts. Given inflation, the hit to French businesses will almost certainly be far higher.

But beyond the economic losses, the report underscored the human costs of the protests. “The acts of vandalism have had a psychological impart and definite trauma for employees and business leaders,” it stated. And overarching it all was the psychological toll on consumers at large.

France has been here before. The Yellow Vest protests of 2018 left scars on storefronts and psyches alike. And as Prime Minister Lecornu warned, this time the protests are organized in unprecedented ways—meaning the wounds will run deeper and take longer to heal.