Apple will close all three of its Paris retail stores on Saturday, October 24, as the city braces for further protests following last weekend’s violence. The closures affect Apple Champs-Elysees, Apple Opera, and Apple Marche Saint-Germain, with plans to reopen Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Four additional stores outside Paris will also close, though specific locations were not disclosed. Authorities have banned gatherings near the Champs-Elysees and rejected a proposed protest route.
France plans to deploy around 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide, with 28 Paris metro stations set to close at 9:00 a.m. Looters often target high-value electronics stores like Apple, but demo iPhones are designed to brick themselves if removed from premises. Units stolen from Apple Lille displayed a warning message indicating the device had been disabled and was being tracked. The October 17 protests, initially focused on rising fuel prices and cost of living, escalated into rioting and looting near Place de la Republique.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing