Major protests in France: French shop owners brace for more unrest

Shutters down, windows boarded up. With further protests expected this Saturday, French businesses are preparing for the worst. While the government promises better police presence this weekend in case peaceful protests could once again be followed by civil unrest, shop owners are taking matters into their own hands, with pepper spray sales increasing this past week. The goal is not to reach that point, but you never know, because it really was guerrilla warfare. And when asked if he'd ever bought this sort of thing? Not at all. It's the first time. But not everyone is on board. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I don't want to attack people either. That's not my role, and it's not my vision of society. Other businesses have plans in place to protect the merchandise, but above all, their staff. If we actually see people starting to smash the shop window, we have to leave. But if it's just a crowd that makes us feel uneasy, our instructions are to remove the merchandise anyway. 3,000 shops and businesses. That's how many were hit across France last weekend, resulting in several hundred million euros in retail damage. The CEO of Carrefour Supermarket says 50 of its stores were affected, 19 looted. He estimates repair costs to reach 10 million euros. The weekend left many asking why the French police weren't better prepared to protect businesses and locals. After meeting with President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, political leaders claim that answers are still not forthcoming. We came with questions and proposals, questions regarding the security fiasco on the 17th and 18th of October. We received no clear answer as to how such a lack of preparation by our security services could be explained. It's clear that this administration and Emmanuel Macron himself struggle to implement a policy of firmness and, more importantly, to fully commit to it. The government hopes new curfews and restrictions will reassure businesses ahead of the next round of expected protests. But shopkeepers are boarding up their windows anyway.