Paris department store BHV forced to close doors

One week after being placed under bankruptcy protection, the iconic Paris department store BHV Marais was forced to shut its doors on Monday following a problem with its insurance coverage.

The landmark store which has stood in central Paris for some 170 years was forced to close its doors around 4pm, as was a second store in the western Paris suburbs.

The stores "must close this evening as a precautionary measure for our teams and clients: one of our insurance policies could not be transferred as part of the bankruptcy process", chief executive Karl-Stephane Cottendin said in a message to staff, seen by AFP.

The lights were off in the city centre store at 6pm and no signs explaining the closure were posted.

Cottendin said in his message that a new contract was in the process of being finalised and set to take effect on Tuesday.

"Our fear is that it won't reopen," they said in a joint statement.

Paris's deputy mayor in charge of employment, Nicolas Bonnet Oulaldj, told AFP that the closure was prompted by the two administrators appointed to oversee the bankruptcy process discovering that management had failed to pay its insurance premium, resulting in a lapse of coverage.

The Paris commercial court last week declared the company which manages BHV Marais to be insolvent, which the company had denied even as it asked for bankruptcy protection to restructure its debts and operations.

The court-supervised restructuring allows for a six-month observation period -- renewable for a further six months -- to assess whether the company can be turned around.

The bankruptcy followed a turbulent year, with brand-name boutiques abandoning the store over delayed payments even before it invited Asian fast-fashion giant Shein to open its first permanent shop, sparking controversy.