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Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
The Swedish fashion retailer H&M closes its branch on the Parisian Champs-Élysées.
Negotiations with the unions about this have already started, announced H&M.
The closure is the result of the »global restructuring« in order to better meet customer requirements and to ensure an »optimal location« of the branches.
The shop on the boulevard of the French capital opened eleven years ago.
At that time, the branch of the fast fashion retailer on the Champs-Élysées caused a stir with its expensive shops.
H&M argued for years with the city that wanted to keep the clothing store away from the boulevard.
First of all, the responsible admission committee of the department administration stopped the opening of a 2800 square meter fashion store.
"We have nothing against H&M," said then Vice Mayor Lyne Cohen-Solal, "but the Champs-Elysées are on the brink, the avenue is threatened with the loss of its soul."
Paris wants to radically rebuild the Champs-Élysées
In the current branch 105 people are employed, they should get jobs in other Paris branches, said H&M.
The group announced in April that it would close 350 branches worldwide - but at the same time 100 new ones are to be opened.
The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is currently planning the renovation of the boulevard.
Because protests, strikes and constant traffic jams had recently badly damaged the reputation of the street.
She now wants gardens instead of asphalt, a pedestrian zone instead of queues of cars.
As a first step, the Place de la Concorde between the end of the avenue and the area in front of the world-famous Louvre Museum is to be redesigned by the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, and the rest from 2025.
hej / AFP
