Fashion retailers in France lose 20 percent of stores since 2019
The number of stores from major fashion retailers has dropped by nearly 20 percent in France between 2019 and the end of 2025, according to the Alliance du Commerce (AdC). The organisation issued a warning on Tuesday about the “de-commercialisation” of town centres ahead of the municipal elections. The decline is particularly severe for town centres and shopping centres, which are suffering the most from these closures.
Retailers in France are now favouring out-of-town areas and retail parks. This shift is driven by growth in the entry-level market, according to a panel conducted for the AdC by the firm Retail Int. The findings are based on data from approximately one-third of the representative market.
“We wish to send a strong warning signal about the situation in town centres,” said Bernard Cherqui, president of the AdC. “The attractiveness of town centres is currently deteriorating and commercial vacancy continues to rise,” Cherqui lamented. This vacancy has increased from six percent to almost 12 percent in 15 years, he specified, adding that the “risk of de-commercialisation is now real” in some towns.
Grenoble is the city most severely affected by this phenomenon, with a 14.6 percent drop in its store portfolio between 2022 and 2025. Conversely, Nice is faring best (+13.9 percent). Paris, on the other hand, is benefiting from a strong 2024 Olympic Games effect, with the clothing sector growing by 1.4 percent in 2025, according to the panel.
Half of the store closures are due to liquidations and receiverships that have hit the sector. The other half results from strategic decisions by brands, which are closing more points-of-sale than they are opening to reduce costs.
Despite the fall in the number of points-of-sale, the overall retail space has held up, declining by only five percent over the last six years. This paradox reflects a profound transformation: brands are closing their small town-centre boutiques to open larger stores elsewhere, supported by lower rents.
The numerous business failures are weighing down the overall turnover of the clothing sector, which is down 1.9 percent in 2025, according to the panel's figures. On a like-for-like (LFL) basis, excluding brands that have gone bankrupt, 2025 ended with near stability (-0.2 percent).
Womenswear is the driving force (+2.6 percent in 2025, +6.6 percent since 2022). It is pulling along other struggling categories, such as menswear (-2.2 percent over one year, -0.9 percent since 2022) and footwear (-2.2 percent over one year, -3.8 percent since 2022).
The Retail Int. clothing panel is composed of 80 retailers, covering more than 10,000 stores and generating 12 billion euros in turnover, representing approximately one-third of the market.
This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com