Printemps Haussmann store reopens

This past May 11^th, many stores have been authorized to open again as lockdown was lifted in France.

But other stores unfortunately did not have the chance because of the big risks of spreading Covid-19. So, the reopening of shopping malls in Ile-de-France, that are bigger than 40,000sqm, is subject to agreement from the Prefect. So, because of a decree ordered by the Paris Police Prefecture, the iconic Printemps Haussmann has been forced to let its doors locked. Its historic address on Boulevard Haussmann covers about 45,000sqm scattered across three buildings.

But justice has ruled in its favor. According to the AFP, the administrative court has just suspended the decree ordered on May 13^th by the Police Prefecture. The Parisian department store is then authorized to reopen starting Thursday May 28, 2020 at 11 a.m. The court considers that Printemps Haussmann “is justified to insist on the fact the gross leasable area determined by considering on one hand the ‘home’ section and on the other hand the ‘men/women’ section and none of these two units exceeds 40,000sqm”. Justice has judged that “by adding their surfaces to calculate the gross leasable area, the police prefect has cause serious and clearly unlawful harm to the freedom of entrepreneurship and trade and industry”.

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“This positive decision will enable the Printemps store flagship to get back to work” the store said in a released shared by the AFP.

For the record, on May 19^th, the Beaugrenelle shopping mall in Paris was authorized to reopen, following a court’s decision. Remains to be seen if other department stores and shopping malls in Paris and Île-de-France will be authorized to reopen by court’s decision. We can think of the Galeries Lafayette set on Boulevard Haussmann, or the Forum des Halles, forced to remain closed until July 10^th.