Queues formed outside hairdressers’ shops and department stores sold gifts and Christmas decorations on Saturday as France partially reopened after a month-long lockdown, reports The Guardian.
Shops selling non-essential goods, such as shoes, clothes and toys, reopened in the first easing of national restrictions since October 30th. Bars and restaurants remain closed until January 20th.
Remi Thor, a barber in central Paris, said: “Today we have people who had been waiting for weeks, while others are coming now so they can look good for Christmas, as one never knows what happens next.”
A barber at J-Coiffeur in western Paris said despite his online reservation system, people were showing up without booking and were queuing up outside. “Under current rules, they cannot wait inside,” he said.
Printemps – which has 19 luxury department stores with a combined floorspace of 180,000 sq metres – has been tracking footfall closely.
Pierre Pelarrey, the director of Printemps’ flagship Paris Boulevard Haussmann store, said: “We calculate the traffic in real time to make sure we respect the limit on the number inside,” he said.
As a condition for reopening, the government reduced the number of people allowed in shops.