Shein prepares to open a store in Paris' BHV Marais

The Asian ultra-fast fashion giant Shein, criticised for its practices, will open its first-ever permanent physical store in the world at BHV in Paris on Wednesday. The announcement was made on Friday on Instagram by Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), the owner of BHV.

The brand, whose factories are mostly in China, will offer its thousands of low-cost items on the sixth floor of the historic department store, Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, despite fierce controversy. Later in November, Shein is set to open five other stores in France within Galeries Lafayette department stores operated by SGM.

A "world first"

The head of SGM, Frédéric Merlin, posted on the social network Instagram: “BHV SHEIN November 5 opening at 1pm”. He added “world first” to emphasise that this is the first permanent physical store in the world for the platform, which was previously exclusively online. The company was founded in China in 2012 and is based in Singapore.

The alliance between Shein and BHV will go ahead despite near-universal outrage. Opposition has come from the government; the Paris city council; BHV's partner brands; the BHV employees' union; an online petition with over 110,000 signatories; and numerous players in the French textile sector.

Shein and SGM, which has owned BHV since 2023, will open a space of over 1,000 square metres. This is the first step in Shein's physical expansion before it moves into five other Galeries Lafayette stores in Dijon, Reims, Grenoble, Angers, and Limoges, all owned by SGM.

Targeted by a proposed bill against the rise of ultra-fast fashion, Shein has received three fines in France this year, totalling 191 million euros. The fines were for non-compliance with online cookie legislation; false promotions; misleading information; and for failing to declare the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.