Ultra-fast fashion giant Shein, which has been criticized for its business practices, will open its world’s first permanent physical store at Paris department store BHV on Wednesday. The Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), the owner of the BHV, announced this on Instagram on Friday.
The brand will offer its thousands of affordable items on the sixth floor of the historic Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville department store. Most of the company’s factories are located in China. The opening takes place despite the heated controversy. Shein plans to open five more stores in France during November. These will be located in the Galeries Lafayette operated by SGM.
A ‘world premiere’
“BHV Shein November 5th opening at 1 p.m.,” posted the head of SGM, Frédéric Merlin, on Instagram. He added the term ‘world premiere’. He emphasized that this is the world’s first permanent physical store for the platform. The company was founded in China in 2012, is based in Singapore and, with the exception of pop-ups, has previously operated exclusively online.
Despite the almost general outrage from the government, the Paris city administration, BHV’s partner brands, the union of BHV employees, an online petition with over 110,000 signatories and numerous actors in the French textile industry, the alliance between Shein and the BHV is now being implemented.
Shein and SGM, which has owned BHV since 2023, will open an area of over 1,000 square meters. This is a first step for Shein’s physical presence. Five more stores will follow later in the Galeries Lafayette in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers and Limoges, which also belong to SGM.
Shein, the target of a proposed law targeting the rise of ultra-fast fashion, was fined three times in France this year. The total amount is 191 million euros. The penalties were imposed for non-compliance with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information and non-declaration of plastic microfibers in products.
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