Boarded-up windows, museums closed to visitors: How businesses in Paris are preparing for another day of protests

A multipurpose intervention vehicle in front of the National Assembly building in Paris. — France is bracing for another day of protests.
NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images

France and other countries across Europe are bracing for another day of protests.
In Paris, major tourist landmarks and storefronts are shuttering for the day.
The interior ministry is upping its police presence and deploying 70,000 personnel to the streets.

As France prepares for another weekend of protests, some of its most famous streets and landmarks are bracing and boarding up.

French authorities expect hundreds of thousands of protesters to take to the streets on Saturday.

Last weekend, student-led cost-of-living protests devolved in some places into violent riots and looting.

This weekend, the interior ministry has said it will increase police presence, deploying some 70,000 officers across the country on Saturday. The protests are expected to draw support from various groups and organizations, including the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests.

On Saturday morning, military officers and a multipurpose intervention vehicle could be seen positioned outside of Paris’ National Assembly building.

Shops on Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées were boarded up on Friday in anticipation of another weekend of protest.

Metal scaffolding outside the Dior store — PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 23: Shops on the Champs-Elysees are barricading themselves in ahead of the planned protests in Paris, France on October 23, 2026. The authorities plan to deploy a large number of police officers following last weekâs riots and looting. (Photo by Luc Auffret/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Luc Auffret/Anadolu via Getty Images

Luxury stores including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Moncler all have stores on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

Some 1,500 businesses were targeted in last weekend’s vandalism, said Alexandre Bompard, the CEO of Carrefour, one of France’s largest supermarket chains.

French business leaders widely condemned the looting that happened on October 17.

Wooden boards in front of the Levi's shop windows — PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 23: Shops on the Champs-Elysees are barricading themselves in ahead of the planned protests in Paris, France on October 23, 2026. The authorities plan to deploy a large number of police officers following last weekâs riots and looting. (Photo by Luc Auffret/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Luc Auffret/Anadolu via Getty Images

Business leaders including Thierry Guibert, CEO of Lacoste, and Nicolas Houzé, executive chairman of Galeries Lafayette, all spoke out in the aftermath of last weekend’s damage.

“We cannot allow violence to destroy what generations have put so much energy into building,” Guibert wrote on X.

In central Paris, some shop owners boarded up their businesses on Friday as a precautionary measure.

Men board up a store in France as a woman looks on — PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 24: Commercial establishments and luxury retail boutiques in central Paris are seen securing their storefronts with wooden protective panels on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Shop owners took precautionary measures and temporarily closed their businesses ahead of the demonstrations planned across the country. (Photo by Mouneb Taim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Mouneb Taim/Anadolu via Getty Images

Among the areas targeted in last weekend’s violence in Paris were the Marais shopping district and the Place de la République.

Speaking to Business Insider’s correspondent Nathan Rennolds last weekend, one shopkeeper in Paris said looters had “taken everything.”

Major Paris tourist attractions, including the Louvre, have closed for the day.

A do not enter sign and a barricade in front of the glass pyramid of the Louvre — Security personnel stand guard in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, Oct. 19, 2026. In Paris, the entrance to the Louvre Museum was blocked by student protesters on Monday morning, French daily Le Parisien reported, citing the museum’s management and two trade unions. According to the trade union General Confederation of Labour, the museum would remain closed at least until noon. (Photo by Wu Huiwo/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Wu Huiwo/Xinhua via Getty Images

In a notice on its website, the Louvre says the museum will be closed on Saturday and all reservations will be reimbursed. The Louvre closed its doors earlier this week after student protests blocked the entrances.

The Grand Palais and Musée d’Orsay are also closed for the day.

In an update issued on Thursday, the US Embassy in France warned Americans to avoid demonstrations and said curfews across the country, including in some Paris neighborhoods, might continue. It also advised Americans in Paris for the NFL game on Sunday, October 25, to exercise caution.

Protests are expected more broadly across Europe on Saturday, too.

Two men carry a large piece of plywood down a French street — NANCY, FRANCE – OCTOBER 23: Workers install protective wooden boards and plywood panels over shopfronts and commercial venues across downtown Nancy, France, on October 23, 2026. Local business owners and municipal authorities reinforced physical security measures ahead of large-scale public demonstrations planned for October 24, seeking to prevent vandalism and structural damage along major commercial corridors. (Photo by Muhammed Said Tako/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Muhammed Said Tako/Anadolu via Getty Images

Protests are also expected in countries including Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Albania.

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