Shein Plans Six Permanent Stores in France as Retail Partners, Unions and Regulators Push Back

Six French stores put Shein at the centre of a retail dispute

Shein plans to open its first permanent stores anywhere in the world in France, beginning on 1 November 2025 with more than 1,000 square metres on the sixth floor of the BHV Marais department store in central Paris. Five smaller shops will follow in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers and Limoges, with the rollout expected to continue through early December.

The expansion takes the company beyond its online marketplace and temporary shops into some of France's historic retail buildings. It also brings a confrontation with department store owners, public investors, fashion businesses and workers who question whether Shein belongs inside those landmarks.

Each regional shop is expected to occupy about 300 to 400 square metres inside a department store carrying the Galeries Lafayette name. The agreement is with Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), which owns and operates BHV Marais and runs the regional stores under affiliation agreements. The Galeries Lafayette group itself opposes the project.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of Paris Fashion Week events and growing European scrutiny of the environmental and social costs of ultra fast fashion. The term describes a business built around introducing large numbers of inexpensive garments at very short intervals. Shein promotes thousands of new styles each day.

France is one of Shein's largest European markets. The company reported revenue of $23 billion in 2022 and employs about 16,000 people worldwide. Its planned stores would give that vast online business a lasting physical presence after years of experiments with temporary shops.

As of 11 October, the openings remain ahead, while opposition is already taking shape. BHV unions have announced a walkout, trade organisations have criticised the deal, and the public investor Caisse des Dépôts has distanced itself from SGM's partnership with Shein.

Why the Galeries Lafayette name is caught in the middle

SGM's agreement with Shein reserves dedicated retail spaces inside larger department stores. This arrangement allows the online company to establish shops without taking over entire buildings, while giving SGM a new attraction intended to bring customers through its doors.

SGM is a private group that has been acquiring and seeking to revive historic department stores across France. It owns BHV Marais and controls the five regional locations involved in the rollout. Those regional stores use the Galeries Lafayette banner under affiliation agreements, but the Galeries Lafayette group no longer operates them.

The group, which runs the famous Boulevard Haussmann flagship in Paris, says Shein's practices conflict with its values, its premium positioning and its plans for responsible fashion. It has publicly opposed installing Shein in all five affiliated regional stores.

The disagreement has created an unusual dispute between the owner of a department store name and an operator using that name. Customers will see the Galeries Lafayette banner on the building, even though the decision to welcome Shein comes from SGM. SGM says the agreement respects its contracts and that discussions with stakeholders continue.

Caisse des Dépôts has also rejected support for the partnership. The French public investor says its investments must be consistent with a responsible economy and the ecological transition. Its real estate arm ended talks with SGM over a possible transaction involving the BHV building, citing a loss of trust.

SGM promises customers, investment and jobs

Frédéric Merlin, president of SGM, presents the agreement as a way to revive city centres, restore department stores and attract younger customers. He says the partnership is intended to support local commerce and French clothing businesses while creating employment.

We want to bring life back to city centers, restore department stores and support ready to wear in France, while creating about 200 direct and indirect jobs.

Shein makes a similar case. It says its stores can bring in people who would not normally visit department stores and help renew historic retail landmarks. Both partners describe the initiative as a lasting commitment to the French market.

The company also says French suppliers have approached it with proposals since it announced a separate partnership with Pimkie earlier in 2025. Shein maintains that it is committed to complying with regulations and improving practices across its supply chain.

For SGM, the commercial calculation centres on customer visits. Department stores have faced years of pressure from businesses selling exclusively online. A brand with Shein's reach on social media could draw shoppers into buildings where other counters and concessions also need sales.

The risk is that those visitors come at the expense of the stores' existing identity. Some French labels have already left BHV because they do not want to share space with Shein, according to unions. Winning new customers while retaining established brands is therefore part of the same business challenge.

What shoppers can expect inside

The six shops will carry selected ranges rather than the full assortment available through Shein's online marketplace. The Paris space will be substantially larger than the regional locations, but all are expected to rotate their selections quickly, with frequent product arrivals and digital engagement intended to reflect the pace of the app.

Prices are expected to follow the company's familiar appeal: turning current trends into inexpensive clothing quickly. For households watching their budgets, affordability and a constant supply of new designs can be strong reasons to visit.

Permanent stores offer practical advantages too. Customers can try on clothing, check sizes and feel fabrics before buying. Physical locations can provide a way to return purchases without postage, reduce some delivery costs and help build confidence among shoppers concerned about quality.

Shein also gains places to display selected collections and generate social media content. The stores function as visible advertisements as well as places to buy clothes, giving an online business a recognisable address in each city.

Local labels and independent shops fear the opposite effect. A seller offering very low prices inside a heritage department store could draw spending away from surrounding businesses and change what shoppers expect clothing to cost. Rivals may respond with more promotions or place greater weight on quality and service.

French trade associations say the ultra fast fashion model pushes the market towards lower prices while weakening efforts to encourage purchases of more durable clothes. The dispute therefore reaches beyond the six retail spaces to the businesses competing around them.

French penalties already total €190 million

Shein's expansion follows two substantial French penalties in 2025, involving different parts of its online business. In July, the competition and consumer authority imposed a €40 million fine over deceptive promotions connected to advertised price reductions.

French privacy regulators subsequently imposed a €150 million penalty for violations of rules governing cookies and tracking consent. Cookies are small files that websites place on devices; some are used to follow browsing activity. Consent rules govern when companies may use them.

Together, the two penalties amount to €190 million. The €150 million cookies penalty, described as a record penalty of its kind, is almost four times the €40 million fine over discounts. The cases concern separate obligations: accurately presenting prices and respecting choices about personal data.

Opening physical shops leaves both sets of obligations in place. Digital systems used inside stores, including any loyalty programmes or collection of customer information, could extend the areas in which the company must manage compliance.

National trade organisations have asked consumer protection authorities to increase inspections and impose penalties when they find violations. Products displayed on shelves will also put matters such as safety and labelling directly within reach of inspections.

Fashion legislation and customs changes add pressure

France's response extends beyond individual enforcement cases. Lawmakers advanced measures against ultra fast fashion in 2024 and, according to officials, adopted an anti fast fashion law in the middle of 2025.

The law targets the volume of clothing and waste produced by extremely rapid fashion cycles. It introduces financial penalties that rise with a product's environmental footprint, restricts or bans advertising for the worst offenders, and increases transparency requirements covering sourcing and waste management.

Those measures are intended to make the environmental costs of inexpensive clothing more visible in the way businesses operate and market products. Once fully enforced, they will affect marketing and costs for companies covered by the rules.

The European Union has separately moved to end the customs exemption for goods of low value entering the bloc. That exemption allows many small parcels to arrive without customs duties. Removing it would increase the cost of shipping many orders directly to European consumers.

The timing of that customs change taking effect was not specified. The prospect gives platforms another reason to consider keeping stock closer to their customers instead of sending each order across borders separately.

Regional warehouses can shorten delivery times, but holding inventory locally also brings responsibilities for product testing, tax collection and other compliance requirements. Permanent shops add further costs, including rent, employees, fixtures and stock management.

Shein will need to forecast demand for each physical space closely enough to avoid accumulating unsold clothing. An app can display an enormous range; a department store floor has limited space and requires decisions about which products to put there.

Supply chain scrutiny follows Shein into stores

An OECD body has concluded that Shein falls short of its guidelines for responsible business conduct on social rights and environmental goals. Those guidelines set expectations for how companies should address the effects of their activities on people and the environment.

Campaigners in Europe and the United States continue to raise concerns about forced labour risks in cotton sourcing, particularly in China's Xinjiang region. Shein says it prohibits forced labour and audits suppliers. According to lawyers cited in public reporting, the company has declined to answer specific questions about cotton origins in some proceedings.

ActionAid France and China Labor Watch described working conditions in supplier factories that included shifts exceeding 12 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week, insecure contracts and limited protection for workers. Earlier investigations by Public Eye highlighted poor safety conditions in workshops.

Shein disputes the most severe descriptions of conditions and points to programmes intended to improve oversight. Unions, campaigners and competitors remain sceptical about the company's progress across its large supplier network.

Environmental groups focus on the volume and speed of production. They argue that social media trends encourage frequent buying, while processing and shipping large numbers of small parcels creates substantial packaging and transport demands.

Garments that wear out quickly or rapidly fall out of fashion are more likely to be thrown away. Advocates of more sustainable fashion say that cycle conflicts with climate and waste reduction goals, and they regard Shein as a prominent example of the problem.

Several French clothing and retail federations have criticised the decision to admit Shein into prestigious department stores as a retreat from the industry's stated commitments to quality and responsibility. A federation representing independent clothing retailers expressed its opposition in these terms:

This choice drags the entire market downward, damages local brands and weakens jobs across the value chain.

BHV workers challenge the employment argument

At BHV Marais, a coalition of CFDT, CFTC, CFE CGC, CGT and SUD Solidaires unions has called for a three hour stoppage against the planned sixth floor shop. Workers link their objections to both Shein's business model and changes already made under SGM.

Union representatives say BHV has lost more than 300 jobs since SGM took control in 2023. They argue that welcoming Shein continues a move away from skilled department store work and towards a retail model that weakens employment.

The unions also question promises of roughly 35 roles associated with the new space. That figure relates to the shop, while Merlin's estimate of about 200 jobs covers direct and indirect employment associated with the wider project. Workers say the proposed roles must be considered alongside the reductions already made at BHV.

Union representatives have also raised concerns about late payments to some concessions and the departure of French brands unwilling to share the building with Shein. In their joint note, the unions described the direction of the business:

A destructive economic model is taking hold, one that disregards French know how and the value of retail jobs.

The employment dispute puts two competing accounts of regeneration side by side. SGM says a new attraction will help protect historic shops and create work. Unions say the existing workforce has already borne substantial losses and that the partnership offers little reassurance about the value placed on retail skills.

Paris officials and regional shoppers face different pressures

Paris's deputy mayor responsible for commerce has urged SGM to reconsider. The official argues that associating BHV with ultra fast fashion gives approval to a model involving social exploitation, unclear supply chains and heavy textile pollution.

SGM says it has support within the city's leadership and wants to use the stores to test more responsible versions of Shein's model. The competing statements show that the political response is also contested.

Regional cities have already experienced the contrast between strong customer demand and public protest. Previous temporary Shein shops attracted long queues, while activists sprayed slogans about labour abuse and pollution on shopfronts. Cleaning crews removed the slogans before the doors opened.

Some shoppers waiting in those queues said they knew quality could vary but that the prices suited their budgets. Their reasoning helps explain why criticism of the company has not removed its appeal.

The same cities are home to designers, manufacturers, craftspeople and independent retailers trying to sell longer lasting clothing at prices that sustain their businesses. Mayors, unions and small shop owners will be watching how the permanent stores affect that balance between inexpensive purchases and local employment.

The opening timetable and the tests that follow

The planned sequence begins in Paris and then moves to the five regional sites. BHV Marais is intended to serve as the flagship, while the smaller shops will allow the partners to test product selections and the way goods are displayed.

• 2023: SGM took control of BHV, after which unions say more than 300 jobs were lost.
• 2024: French lawmakers advanced measures aimed at ultra fast fashion.
• Mid 2025: Officials said France adopted an anti fast fashion law.
• July 2025: France's competition and consumer authority imposed a €40 million fine over deceptive discounts.
• Later in 2025, before 11 October: French privacy regulators imposed a €150 million penalty over cookies and tracking consent.
• 1 November 2025: Shein plans to open its permanent space at BHV Marais.
• Through early December 2025: Shops in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers and Limoges are expected to follow in sequence.

SGM says discussions continue with those opposing the project. The Galeries Lafayette group has maintained its public opposition, while SGM retains control of the regional affiliates involved.

Regulators and advocacy groups will monitor the launch, and international watchdogs will continue examining supply chain risks. BHV unions plan to maintain pressure on management and document effects on employment and working conditions.

France offers Shein a prominent setting for its next retail phase: historic department stores, a large consumer market and shoppers attracted by low prices. It also brings organised opposition and tighter rules. The immediate test is whether the six shops can attract customers while retaining other brands, meeting regulatory obligations and answering workers' concerns.

Key Points

• Shein plans six permanent French stores, its first lasting physical retail presence worldwide.
• The Paris opening is scheduled for 1 November, followed by five regional shops through early December.
• SGM arranged the deal; the Galeries Lafayette group opposes Shein entering the five affiliated stores carrying its name.
• Caisse des Dépôts rejected support for the partnership, and its real estate arm ended talks over the BHV building.
• French penalties in 2025 total €190 million for deceptive discounts and violations involving cookies and tracking consent.
• BHV unions have called a three hour stoppage and say more than 300 jobs have disappeared since SGM took control in 2023.
• SGM forecasts about 200 direct and indirect jobs, while unions question roughly 35 roles linked to the new BHV space.
• Labour conditions, cotton sourcing, textile waste and changing French and European rules remain central to scrutiny of the expansion.