Shopkeepers leave to pack after riots sweep France

Protesters loot shops in Strasbourg Photo: Kelpa/Anadolu satiri swept across the country after the death of 17-year-old Nahel M. at a traffic stop at the beginning this week.

Bruno Le Maire, French economy and finance minister, said at least a dozen shopping malls, 200 large retail stores, 250 tobacco shops, 250 bank branches and numerous clothing, sportswear and fast food stores.

As the mourners walked to Nahel M.'s funeral, they overlooked the broken window and vandalized walls of the corner cafe that is usually swarming with patrons on Saturday mornings.

p>

But while the damage will likely keep the cafe out of business for at least the next few days, the owner insisted he doesn't hold a grudge against the teenagers who put in his windows.

A woman uses her smartphone at the entrance to a wrecked Bondi store. Photo: Charlie Triballo/Getty

«I don't blame the kids in the least,» he said as he swept up the broken glass.

He called the robberies «unforgivable, unspeakable and unbearable.»

Some of the looted properties, such as the Apple Store in Strasbourg, are part of large retail chains; many of them are independent enterprises with a handful of employees, which are now in danger of ruin.

“This country is in chaos. I am 43 years old and have never seen anything like this,” said Alexandre, owner of a tobacco shop looted in Marseille on Friday.

«I'm not going to judge what happened, it's not my problem … but on the other hand, the people who run us: you have to really take action, because now it's serious,» he added in a commentary to French television.

“I am a family man, I have two little girls. I am a trader, I get up at 5 am. I do my best. I have three employees who are currently unemployed. I have nothing left, everything is broken…

“Macron [must] act because we cannot continue; I'm going to leave this country.»

An employee returns to a looted store in Lyon. Photo: Olivier Chassinol.

Alexander's shop was ransacked and the corrugated steel shutters ripped off. and thrown out the window, but avoided arson.

In Bondi, Saint-Saint-Denis, a row of shops turned to ashes.

«We are tired, we are full, get up, we are afraid,» a local resident told BFMTV. “Only the army can calm” the rioters,” she added.

In Marseille, nighttime robberies continued until Saturday morning, despite the efforts of the police to restore order in the port city.

>“This lasted all night, our stores were damaged…broken, our colleagues were robbed,” said the store owner.

Several cities have imposed curfews. Strasbourg has asked businesses to remain closed for the next few days.

Mr Le Maire and Olivia Grégoire, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, on Saturday announced a range of support measures, including the provision of crisis advisors and possibly deferral of tax returns.