In front of a shuttered shop on Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris, October 18, 2025. VINCENT ISORE/ IP3 PRESS/MAXPPP
It is one of the oldest thoroughfares in Paris, and has long been considered one of the most attractive. Boulevard Saint-Michel, which separates the 5th and 6th arrondissements for 1.5 kilometers, is now experiencing an acute retail crisis. In a "flash report" from July 2025, the Paris Urban Planning Agency (APUR) recorded a vacancy rate of 18%, compared to 10.9% across the capital.
"Boulevard Saint-Michel is emblematic of what is happening today in many Paris neighborhoods: Local shops are being squeezed by unaffordable rents, real estate speculation, delivery platforms and fast fashion," said Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, the mayor's Communist deputy for commerce.
The situation has become so severe that, for the first time, the City of Paris decided to activate the tax on vacant retail premises in June, in order to "encourage owners to bring vacant premises back onto the market." The tax, which is triggered after two years of vacancy and increases progressively, is considered insufficiently dissuasive by the left, but also by officials from the centrist MoDem and center-right Horizons parites. "It is mainly symbolic," admitted Bonnet-Oulaldj, who wrote to all property owners to initiate dialogue.
