Empty Christmas markets in Paris
 

France TV reports empty Christmas markets and sparse activity in the grands magasins in the wake of the November attacks. This part of the economic war is having a effect.

Sad for the vendors.

http://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-div...ml#xtor=EPR-2-[newsletterquotidienne]-20151222-[lestitres-colgauche/titre1]

I am so sorry to read this. We left 8 Dec after 3 weeks and it seemed to be picking up but not enough I guess.

I was there 12/4-18 and it certainly looked much busier than these photos show.

I guess the point is that business is off for the merchants which is too bad.

A good week ago in Strasbourg, the Christmas markets looked quite well frequented, yet far from being crowded.
The whole historic city center had been blocked for cars, with security at every street leading there.
According to the locals, the number of visitors has been half or less than last years. Not sure if they referred to official statistics or just their gut feeling.
The number of police was huge - but also soldiers with mighty impressive guns patrolled the historic city center.
As these measures had been covered by the news, and with the border control at main access road from neighboring Germany causing traffic jams, I assume it has scared away a number of potential visitors.

The day we spent at the Grand Magasins, they were quite crowded; the christmas markets less so, but I can't compare to previous years nor do I have any sense of whether business was good or bad. I do know in talking to some Parisians they were thankful we did not cancel our trip after the attacks of November 13. I'd go again in an instant.

Quite crowded in Paris. The media like to stir up trouble and it is the easiest thing in the world to find shopkeepers to complain about business. Same as asking farmers if they are happy.

We were in Colmar a couple of weeks ago. A local woman told us that the security lines at the German border, getting into France, were an hour and a half long, keeping many Germans from going to the Christmas market in Strasbourg and Colmar.

She said that many vendors in both Colmar and Strasbourg reported a decline in business from previous years.

Most of the complainants in the article cited are apparel retailers.

Hit, like all their brick-and-mortar peers throughout the North Atlantic, by the combined effects of unseasonably warm weather, deflation, the internet and competitors' brick and mortar networks that haven't been trimmed back as fast as they should have been.

Plus, to judge from the photographs: seriously crap merchandise. And the fact that La Defense isn't the obvious place for a Christmas market - and the current weather just doesn't encourage shopping in such places

No-one pretends London's sudden rash of red "Sale" posters on every clothes shop has got anything to do with terrorism: just lots of retailers stuck with lots of useless stock.

Whingeing retailers always blame something else for their plight: it's notorious, for example, that there's a minuscule range of weather conditions in which it's possible to sell clothes, so it's obviously all God's fault.

The moans from the stall holders are the same as those in Liverpool last weekend. The shopkeepers' whines are the same as those in Oxford this morning.

One feature the press isn't mentioning: it's not just internet deliverers who are rushed off their feet right now. Our local medium-sized towns, and all kinds of new peripheral retailers, have been more packed out for the past few weeks than we've ever known them. People want to avoid big urban centres because they're ghastly to shop in.

Interesting that French media can't see what's happening in centres like Les Ulis any more than British media, lazily reprinting London retailers' moans, hasn't noticed the chaos in our smller towms and shopping centres

I was at BHV this Sunday as well as 2 weeks ago. I was also at the Grand Epicerie on Saturday and saw plenty of crowds in the stores.

I think Christmas is too commercialized and all about buying stuff, anyway, so I think a respite from buying frenzies and a low-keyed Christmas might be a good thing. Many years ago, Christmas was just a small private holiday you spent quietly with your family, not about buying yet more junk at vendors. In the early years in the US, it was actually considered suspect to be buying and spending for things for Christmas as it was not a religious activity. How much Christmas brick-a-brack can one person own, anyway?

I was there mid december: crowded stores, crowded everything. We looked at the row of christmas stalls on Boulevard St Germain: they were just not that nice, so there wasn't much business.

Easy to blame "terrorism".

My input would be about German markets, instead of those in Paris, but my son ran four huts in three German cities, Cologne, Aachen, and Duisberg, this year. He says business was down from last year, but only about 10%. Tomorrow is their last day, and he will not have the final numbers for a few days, but the Paris attacks do not seem to have affected the markets in that part of Germany all that much.

I was in France and Germany in early December on a Christmas river cruise. Places were busy and Cologne on a Saturday was packed. We didn't venture to the Christmas market near the cathedral because there were just too many people to make it enjoyable. After the cruise we had 3 nights in Paris and the places we went were uncrowded. There was a line at the Musee d'Orsay to get through security but it wasn't terribly crowded inside. Notre Dame had no line at all.

I was at these Christmas markets at the beginning of December and it didn't look that desolate or unnatural to me. The one at La Defense wasn't crowded but it was only around 3pm in the day when I walked through. I figured it was just too early in the day. I went to the one on the Champs Elysees on a Friday right before sunset and there were lots of people so more crowded than the picture. I bought very little as there wasn't anything that I wanted to buy. I did my Christmas market shopping in Germany. I know in general places were less crowded during my visit to Paris but it was nice to not always be in a mob and the metro was always packed tight.

We're presently in Paris; have been here since late Nov, except for 3-day visit to Strasbourg last week. We've found the Paris Christmas markets at La Defense and on the Champs to be quite crowded, especially in early evening. Have walked through the market on Blvd Saint Germain, and it's not very crowded, and rightly so, as I counted just 1 or 2 stalls that I couldn't find at a weekly flea market. Of course, the real deal is in Strasbourg, the self-proclaimed "Capital of Christmas." Almost all the stalls there are selling Christmas-related products, and the vieille ville is covered with seasonal decorations. The place seemed pretty crowed to us, especially in early evening. But given the security evident everywhere and the early closing hour for the markets (8 p.m. on the weekdays we were there), I would be surprised if attendance was not down. Regardless, ça vaut la peine d'y aller!

During the first 2 weeks or so after the November attacks, there were not many locals or tourists out and about.
This has changed - there are loads of crowds everywhere - but not everyone is buying.
Some are checking out the merchandise and will return during the sales, many are hoping for a Christmas miracle in the form of cash from Pere Noel, so they can do last-minute shopping. Many others find it more convenient and less expensive to shop on the internet and have things delivered.
Most of the money spent this year in Paris appears to be food-related.
Whether due to the economy or terrorist attacks, people seem to want to spend time together, instead of buying stuff nobody really needs.

The main drop in purchases in France is weather related. Absolutely nobody wants to buy winter clothes as long as the temperatures are so much above average. No cold weather is predicted until at least January. The ski resorts are empty (well 50%) because there is no snow. The 50% are the ones who booked and paid well in advance and were forced to go or lose their money.

Sounds like a perfect time to visit.

I agree the British and American press like to stir up trouble.

The Washington Post and the Guardian UK are blasting a story about how a Muslim family from London area were not allowed on flight to Disney Land in US.

Like nobody from the US has ever been denied entry to the UK.

I am an American citizen and I have to do cartwheels to get back into my own country when travelling abroad.

And who hasn't been practically strip searched at Heathrow?

Fox news isn't the only medium with an agenda.


Thin

90 searches in houses a day now, in France, muslims first, with environmental activists making up the rest.

anyone who doesn't see there's a serious backlash against muslims happening, has sand in their eyes.

'And who hasn't been practically strip searched at ...?'

That's why I love to travel//

We went to our local market yesterday in Le Bugue and it was hopping! Everyone wishing each other "Bonnes Fêtes!!"

The strip-search at Heathrow can't compare to the one in Frankfurt. I thought I was going to have to marry the woman who pawed me down from top to bottom.

Menachem, I would share your concerns if all Muslims were being denied entry to the US, but that is not the case.

Obviously, Qatar Airways and Emirates are still landing at JFK.

Thin

@Pepper_von_snoot, I assume it's ok to totally disagree with you about this.