Paris shop owners were seen boarding up their storefronts on Friday amid fears of vandalism, as a new round of protests is expected to take place on Saturday in the French capital.
Owners of shops along the Champs-Elysees Avenue boarded up storefronts with thick wooden planks or reinforced them with metal gates as a precaution against potential vandalism and looting. Once a bustling commercial district, the area now exudes a tense atmosphere.
Local business owners and residents expressed lingering fear over last weekend's violence in protests and felt compelled to take measures to prevent further trouble.
"But tomorrow it's going to be a big demonstration in Paris. And I don't want some people with bad intention come here and break my window and break all my works I made since over 30 years now. That's why. [They] affect my business and also affect a lot of businesses around here, and also people from other countries will not come in Paris, because Paris is not a safe city to come now," said a store owner.
"It is necessary to take protective measures because, otherwise, the damage would likely be even worse than it is now. In France, thousands of stores have been looted. If all stores had taken protective measures like the one we see here, I think the damage would have been less severe than it is now," said a Paris resident.
"There has to be another way in order to get your point across than to vandalize. You know, people's stores that they've been working hard for forever and just like tarnishing them and vandalizing," said another local resident.
Paris shop owners board up storefronts as new protests expected
