French Department Stores To Remain Closed On Sundays

Remember when Michelle Obama broke the law? We do! And it seems that the law in question--prohibiting French retail stores from being open on Sundays--will stay in place.

Paris department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, among others, pursued getting rid of the ban, which was put into place in 1906, but Mayor Bertrand Delanoe finally turned them down on Monday. WWD reports, "such a move would have boosted tourism and the local economy by generating additional revenue and creating at least 600 jobs."

A Printemps spokeswoman did note that the stores can stay open five Sundays a year.

When the First Lady went shopping in Paris, France last year, several boutiques stayed open on Sunday specifically for her. A survey done at the time showed two-thirds of French people supported changing the outdated policy.

Comments

[jayHG]

03:07 PM on 06/10/2010

to huffpost style section: yawn...................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...................SNORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AmericanLeslie]

10:17 AM on 06/10/2010

HP: please fire your fashion editor and get one with some real skills. Making not-the-least-bit-transparent-efforts to cast aspersions on Michelle Obama ON A DAILY BASIS for the past 18 months is neither a fashion or a journalistic skill.

[Two Cents]

11:46 AM on 06/09/2010

. . . given many of the headlines and (extremely pathetic) articles, one suspects that HuffPo has been infiltrated by the right.

[World Citizen]

05:05 AM on 06/09/2010

"When the First Lady went shopping in Paris, France last year, several boutiques stayed open on Sunday specifically for her"

This is just such bullcrap. This law has been in effect for more than a year and half now. Stores in France can choose to stay open on Sundays for quite sometime now.

[Weirdwriter]

01:45 AM on 06/09/2010

Another HP headline promises mightily and delivers in the manner most lame.

Quelle tease.

[sistahfriend]

10:11 PM on 06/08/2010

I wish they would close business here on Sunday's. People don't have a day of rest or a day to spend with their families. And I'm old enough to remember when it was like that here.

[janemarple]

10:41 PM on 06/08/2010

I agree.Sundays for lots of us meant visiting Grandma with most of the family in attendance.
We ate, talked and laughed, it was wonderful..Although I now wonder if it was as 'wonderful' for Grandma ! Twelve to fourteen for dinner every Sunday, how did they do it ? I don't remember it being 'fancy' just good food and fun..I miss it.

[yellowdoggie]

12:32 AM on 06/09/2010

We did that too, but we usually made it a pot luck, so Grandma got to sit around and visit while the "aunts" did the work. Men were useless! LOL

[VOTER]

09:16 AM on 06/09/2010

Same.

People managed to get their shopping, banking and other errands done
by the end of Saturday and Sundays loomed as a Day of Fun, Family
and Relaxation.

Family dinners, pot lucks and picnics.

[silencedogooder]

10:00 PM on 06/08/2010

does she get diplomatic immunity? just curious.

[MaeBayB]

09:14 PM on 06/08/2010

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn!

[Beaucheron]

07:38 PM on 06/08/2010

Huff creating 'news' again....

[HolyKow]

06:34 PM on 06/08/2010

Would these be bleu laws?

hk

[1088]

06:14 PM on 06/08/2010

Man, I thought she might have gone skinny dipping with her husband in the fountain at the White House. What a disappointment!

[AlaskanWannaB]

07:12 PM on 06/08/2010

LOL!

[ToniaB]

07:33 AM on 06/10/2010

LoL!

[chumptastic]

05:45 PM on 06/08/2010

I'm no expert in turn-of-the-century French law as it pertains to boutiques, but. . .

Doesn't the article make it sound like the law prohibits the RETAILER from opening? It doesn't sound like the law prohibits the individual from making purchases, ergo the shops broke the law. Not Michelle Obama. And it's not like something she did last year brings any importance to this Parisian blue law that was almost repealed, but in the end, wasn't.

So, is this blatantly stupid "article" just an excuse to generate clicks?

I got all excited thinking our classy First Lady was quelling some wild streak. I call bait and switch.

[vegetablelollipop]

05:44 PM on 06/08/2010

Not only is the headline misleading and the piece poorly written and imprecise (she did not break any laws), but it also features a horrible photo of the First Lady x'd out in red--completely unnecessary and mean-spirited.

[Shzron1946]

05:41 PM on 06/08/2010

so when was th elaw broken? It wasn't unless any of those boutiques had already been open five sundays that year. Get a clue.

[HolyKow]

06:35 PM on 06/08/2010

Unless they are particular sundays, which they are.

The 5 days before Christmas.

Clue acquired, advise you do the same....

hk

[seawally]

04:40 PM on 06/08/2010

According to the article, the law prohibits retail stores from opening on Sunday, it doesn't say that it is illegal to shop, so then shouldn't it be that the retailers broke the law if they were open? Technically though they were not open to the public, they offered a private showing to a dignitary which is not uncommon, so ruling it illegal would hinge on how the law is worded. In any case, like others who've commented I find the article's title misleading and the photo offensive.

[chumptastic]

05:57 PM on 06/08/2010

I need to learn to read at least the first three posts before I go on tirades.