Apple Closes Seven French Stores Ahead of Further Protests

Apple has closed seven stores in France ahead of further demonstrations, a week after two of its locations were looted. The closures affect stores with entrances directly onto the street.

The list includes all three Paris locations — Champs-Élysées, Opéra and Marché Saint-Germain — along with stores in Bordeaux Sainte-Catherine, Lille, Strasbourg and Aix-en-Provence. Apple stores inside shopping malls are expected to operate normally.

Sunday hours and reopening dates

The Paris stores, Bordeaux Sainte-Catherine and Aix-en-Provence list Sunday hours from noon to 6 p.m. Apple’s Lille and Strasbourg pages show those stores staying closed on Sunday and reopening on Monday.

Lille and Bordeaux were looted

Apple’s Lille and Bordeaux stores were looted during unrest on October 17. Reports later said stolen iPhones displayed warnings that they had been disabled and were being tracked, along with instructions to return them to their original stores.

The demonstrations concern rising living costs and poor conditions in schools, the Associated Press reported. Hundreds of thousands of people reportedly protested peacefully on October 17, before violence and looting broke out in several cities.