Their reaction was immediate. On Friday, October 3, just two days after the announcement that Shein would open a space at BHV in Paris in November, Guillaume Alcan and Antoine Vigneron, founders of Odaje, cleared out the shoe brand's booth on the first floor of the Parisian department store. A few hours later, Eléonore Baudry, president of Figaret Paris, together with four employees from the French shirt brand, did the same, taking the 1,500 items from their corner within BHV Homme.

Shein's arrival was "the last straw," said Baudry, who had been demanding payment for overdue invoices, which have since been settled. On Saturday, the department store's sales staff did not hide their discomfort. "By force," the commercial property group Société des Grands Magasins (SGM) is going to "sink BHV" could be heard at the Balibaris, Hugo Boss and Serge Blanco outlets.

The list of suppliers "furious," "scandalized" or "disgusted" by the strategy and management of Groupe SGM has kept growing. And several have already jumped ship. APC, a brand owned by L. Catterton, an investment fund co-owned by LVMH, is throwing in the towel. American group PVH, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, is considering the same. Cabaïa, the leading backpack seller in France, also threatened to leave. "Because our interests and values diverge," explained Bastien Valensi, the brand's founder. Armor-Lux, faced with unpaid invoices amounting to €400,000, also promised to leave.

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