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New Rules May Allow Sunday Shopping On Champs-Élysées

Posted by: Nate Berg

27 November 2006 - 9:00am

Rules may soon be changing along the Champs-Élysées in Paris, allowing more shops to open for business on Sundays -- a day the country traditionally sets aside for rest.

"Now, roughly one-third of the boutiques on the boulevard must stay closed on Sundays by law. The National Clothing Federation, made up of 55,000 shop owners, has been the law's mainstay, long arguing that only large stores could afford to hire the extra employees for Sundays and that opening on Sundays could drive its members out of business."

"Now the federation's president, Charles Melcer, has conceded that the Champs-Élysées is sufficiently unusual to be turned into a special area where shoppers can enjoy a traditional Sunday even as they pick up a new handbag or a flashy pair of designer shoes."

"The concession could open the way for special legislation to be put before Parliament next year to allow for Sunday sales. The Champs-Élysées, Melcer said, should be turned into 'an international zone, a free zone for a special clientele who would be largely made up of foreign visitors.'"

Full Story: Champs-Élysées stores may get to open on Sundays
Source: International Herald Tribune, November 21, 2006
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Much like Victorian reformers of the 1890s, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment for urban reform. Rather than standardization, sanitation, and social order, cities are now looking to promote "livability" and "sustainability".
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