(Reuters) -The opening of five new Shein concession stores across France has been delayed, department store owner Societe des Grands Magasins said on Friday, as it adjusts its strategy after some shoppers found prices at the Paris store too steep.
The online fast-fashion retailer's first physical shop opened at the SGM-owned BHV department store in Paris last week, drawing thousands of bargain-hunters and triggering widespread backlash from other retailers.
Some shoppers at the Shein store in Paris
on opening day were surprised by higher prices than they were used to seeing online.
The concession offered fake leather shorts for 41.03 euros ($47.7), a knitted cardigan for 22.99, and a jacket from Shein's more expensive MOTF brand for 64.99, for example - prices more comparable to Zara, and higher than similar items on Shein's French website.
SGM and Shein are walking a fine line, as the Chinese firm's rock-bottom prices are a core part of the criticism levelled at it by French retailers and politicians - but are also a key draw for loyal customers.
SGM AIMS FOR BIGGER SPACES, CHEAPER PRODUCT RANGE
SGM aims to secure bigger spaces for Shein in its regional department stores so that it can offer a broader range of cheap products alongside more "premium" clothing such as Shein's MOTF brand, an SGM spokesperson told Reuters.
"We prefer to push the openings back by a few days, to get around the table, improve the range, expand the spaces, and offer lower prices," the spokesperson said.
SGM previously said it would open Shein stores at regional department stores over the coming weeks, with the first set to open in Dijon, Reims and Grenoble in November, and Angers and Limoges in early December.
"With SGM, we have chosen, for the time being, to focus our efforts on enhancing the experience offered in the BHV Paris store, which has been a strong success since its opening," Shein said in a statement on the postponement.
No revised dates have yet been decided for the opening, SGM and Shein spokespeople said.
On the opening day of Shein's Paris store, France's finance ministry moved to suspend the online platform over child-like sex dolls and banned weapons sold on its marketplace, but later halted suspension proceedings, adding that Shein will remain under close surveillance.
SGM's regional department stores will also be branded BHV, after SGM and Galeries Lafayette, which had publicly criticised the Shein partnership, ended their franchise agreement.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Helen Reid, additional reporting by Inti Landauro in Brussels, Editing by Sharon Singleton)
