January sales

Can some of the locals explain the sales system. I was there last year and will be this year. Nation wide sales regulated by the Government??

I asked at my hotel last year if there were not sales at other times, she said no, only twice a year.

I%26#39;m sure I saw sale signs in store windows at other times? What gives?

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yes, French sales are nationwide and regulated by government. Twice a year : beginning of january (from the 11th this year) and beginning-mid July. Some stores can make sales on their own, but they are called %26quot;promotions%26quot; if they are out of the official dates.

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There are lots of laws governing these sales. When a store runs a promotion it can only be with merchandise that is already in stcok, but for the bi-annual sales they can bring in items that are for the Sales only. Promotions may only be for a few items in a store.

If a store is going out of business, closing for renovations or the like, they must get special permission from the local Mairie to have a store-wide sale.

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The government gives every year the dates for the start of the sales in Paris and in the rest of France (usually dates are different). This organisation was done because several years ago you saw signs claiming Sales everywhere, and some shops had increased their prices a few days before just to decrease them and everything was out of control. This is why the government regulates this now and you can see the sign for official sales %26quot;soldes%26quot; only during these date. The rest of the rest you can see a %26quot;promotion%26quot; in a shop but no %26quot;soldes%26quot;

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Thanks for clearing that up! Yes now that you mention it, it is the %26quot;promotion%26quot; signs that I%26#39;ve been seeing lately.

Maybe I will take advantage of the sales!