Summary:
Apple plans to close seven Apple Stores in France on Saturday, October 24, including three stores in Paris: the Champs Elysees store, the Opera store and the Saint-Germain Market store. Apple stores in shopping malls around Paris are expected to remain open as usual. Three Paris stores will reopen the next day, but the business hours will be shortened to 12 noon to 6 p.m.; the other four temporarily closed stores are located outside Paris, and the report did not disclose the specific names.
The suspension is in response to planned demonstrations in many places in France. Protests in Paris over the weekend turned into riots and looting of shops, with clashes mainly taking place near Place de la République. The demonstrations initially targeted rising fuel prices, rising costs of living and deteriorating public services.
French authorities have banned rallies near the Champs Elysées and rejected a demonstration route from Place de la République to the Opera House. About 70,000 police and gendarmes are expected to be deployed across France on Saturday, and 28 metro stations in Paris will be closed from 9 a.m.
Apple stores have been targeted for theft before. According to reports, the in-store display machine will automatically lock once it is taken out of the store; a device stolen from an Apple Store in Lille last week displayed a theft warning on the screen, saying that the device has been deactivated and is being tracked, and the police will also be notified.
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