It will be on the 6th floor of the historic Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) that the brand, whose factories are mostly located in China, will showcase its thousands of low-cost items despite significant controversy.
“BHV Shein on November 5, opening at 1:00 PM,” posted SGM President Frédéric Merlin on the social media platform Instagram, adding “world premiere” to emphasize that this will be the first physical and permanent store globally for the platform, which was founded in China in 2012 and is headquartered in Singapore.
Despite reservations and opposition from the government, the Parisian prefecture, BHV’s partner brands, the BHV workers’ union, and several agents in the French textile sector, plus an online petition with over 110,000 signatures, the collaboration between Shein and BHV will take place.
Shein and Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), owners of BHV since 2023, will open a space of more than 1,000 square meters, marking the first step in Shein’s physical presence before investing in five other stores in the Galeries Lafayette in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers, and Limoges, also owned by SGM.
Subject to a bill against the growth of ‘fast-fashion,’ Shein has been fined three times this year in France, totaling 191 million euros for non-compliance with online cookies legislation, false promotions, misleading information, and failing to declare the presence of plastic microfibers in its products.
