Supporters of the Association Mouv'Enfants hold placards in front of French police during a protest against the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein at the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
French police secure the area outside the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, during a protest on the day of the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein within the Parisian department store, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
A view shows Shein logos and clothes displayed at the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein on opening day inside the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
A employee sticks a banner with the Shein logo on a glass door of the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, on the day of the opening of the first physical space for Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein within the Parisian department store, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
People queue to enter the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, on the day of the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein within the Parisian department store, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
A supporter of the Jeunes Horizons, the youth wing of the French political party Horizons, holds a placard which reads "Shame on Shein !" to protest the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein at the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
Members of the Association Mouv'Enfants hold placards which read "Shame on BHV!", "Shame on Shein" and "Shein participates in pedo-criminality" during a protest against the opening of the first physical space of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein at the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

By Mimosa Spencer

PARIS (Reuters) -Protesters bearing "Shame on Shein" placards gathered outside a Paris department store on Wednesday, hours before the opening of the online fast-fashion retailer's first ever permanent shop amid fierce criticism of its low-cost business model.

Dozens of shoppers also lined up outside the 19th-century BHV department store in the Marais district before Shein's opening at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT), as several riot police officers brought in to shield the store looked on.

Shein's store has caused uproar among lawmakers across party lines and politicians including Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, as well as retailers who say that Shein's business model has an unfair advantage and has eroded French high streets.

Shein on Wednesday tried to show it can positively impact French retailers by offering an opening day deal - whatever shoppers spend at Shein, they get as a voucher to spend at other shops within BHV.

SGM SEES CHANCE TO BRING SHOPPERS BACK TO STORES

Shein, known for its rock-bottom prices, was approached to set up a concession by Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), which is hoping the launch will attract a younger clientele to its struggling BHV department store and bring benefits thanks to its ecommerce expertise.

"Every day, we're told that physical stores are dying. Every day, we're being told that thousands of jobs are at stake, that the French textile industry is dying, and these same critics are not the ones offering us solutions," SGM Chairman Frederic Merlin told BFM TV. "I believe that without innovating, the future honestly doesn't look bright."

SGM will use the BHV name for its seven regional department stores, five of which will also host Shein shops, after ending a franchise agreement with Galeries Lafayette, which also publicly criticised the Shein partnership.

FRENCH GOVERNMENT HEIGHTENS SCRUTINY OF SHEIN

France has been especially robust in its reaction to Shein, and could ban the platform from advertising in the country under a planned law to rein in fast fashion that would also place fees on each item it sells.

"We've been fighting this fight against Shein for two years and to see this brand set up in a historic building … that symbolizes (the) French textile industry, it's an unacceptable provocation," said lawmaker Anne-Cécile Violland, who spearheaded the fast fashion law.

The discovery of child-like sex dolls on Shein's website has fuelled further outcry, with France's finance minister on Monday threatening to ban the platform if it sells such products again. Shein said it had sanctioned the sellers and implemented a full ban on sex dolls.

French authorities on Tuesday announced an investigation of Shein and other platforms over alleged dissemination of contents including child pornography on their marketplaces.

The size of Shein's business in France is not known and the company did not reply to Reuters when asked about its revenues in the country, but according to its latest "transparency report" required by the EU under regulations on large platforms, Shein had 27.3 million average monthly users in France between February and July.

French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said in an interview on Cnews that good quality clothing was sometimes too costly and French people were struggling to afford it.

"But in our relationship with ultra-fast fashion and with overconsumption of clothing, we all also have, each one of us, our individual responsibility," she said.

Outside Shein's new store, IT worker Yuting Yu said she had come to browse.

"Right now, with the economy going down, people don't have the money to buy good things."

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer, Michaela Cabrera, Dominique Patton, Helen Reid, Inti Landauro, Lucien Libert; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)