Champs-Élysées Bounces Back With Store Openings

PARIS — Dior has landed on the Champs-Élysées. The luxury brand has opened a temporary boutique while its Avenue Montaigne headquarters undergo renovations, giving the battered avenue a boost as it recovers from almost eight months of protests by the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, movement. Meanwhile, across the street, Chanel has converted its pop-up space next to the Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées department store into its fifth dedicated beauty boutique in France. The opening of the two stores on Saturday signaled the world-famous street is gradually returning to normal after months of violent demonstrations that turned it into a battlefield, causing millions of euros worth of damage and strangling foot traffic as the area was repeatedly sealed off with police barricades. In a single day in March, protesters looted and vandalized stores belonging to Bulgari, Hugo Boss and Lacoste, and set fire to Longchamp and historic restaurant Fouquet’s. Both the Bulgari store, which sits across the street from the new Dior boutique, and Fouquet’s are due to reopen today after months of repairs. While the movement continues, with Saturday marking the 35th day of nationwide marches against the government of French President Emmanuel Macron, it’s mostly back to business as usual. The gilets jaunes demonstrations coincided with

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