Balenciaga Apologizes for Paris Store Scuffle

*Video of a Chinese man being forcibly pulled from a scuffle in a Balenciaga store by security guards in a Paris mall went viral in China, sparking domestic outrage and again throwing the spotlight on Chinese tourists overseas

*Balenciaga said it has a ‘strong commitment to respect equally all its customers,’ while department store operator Printemps said staff will ‘receive additional training so that they manage in the best way this type of situation’

An incident at a Parisian mall that saw a Chinese man forcibly pulled from a scuffle by security guards, sparking outrage in China when a video of the incident went viral, has prompted apologies from luxury-goods seller Balenciaga and department store operator Printemps.

The run-in shines a spotlight on the growing presence of Chinese tourists around the globe, as the nation’s newly minted middle class becomes one of the world’s fastest-growing sources of new travelers. But that group has come under criticism at times, both at home and abroad, for unruly behavior by some of those travelers.

The incident at a Printemps department store in Paris began when some local French Albanian men cut in front of a Chinese woman waiting to make a purchase at a Balenciaga corner area within the store, according to local media reports. A scuffle broke out when the woman objected and her son rushed to her defense, the reports said.

A brief five-second video posted on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, showed an Asian man being pulled away by security guards from an altercation. The topic was one of the highest trending on the service on Friday, ranking No. 11 with 24.3 million posts under the title “Boycott Balenciaga for discriminating against Chinese people.”

“The house of Balenciaga regrets the incident that took place yesterday morning at a department store in Paris while customers were waiting to enter its corner shop,” Balenciaga said in a statement in English and Chinese on its official Weibo account on Thursday. “The security staff acted immediately to restore the calm. Balenciaga sincerely apologizes to the customers who were present and reaffirms its strong commitment to respect equally all its customers.”

Printemps posted a similar statement, apologizing specifically “to the Chinese customers involved in this altercation as well as to all those who were upset or inconvenienced in any way.”

“We have decided to ensure that the staff receive additional training so that they manage in the best way this type of situation,” Printemps said on its official Weibo account. “We will make every effort to ensure that this type of altercation does not happen again and we want to reaffirm our commitment to providing customers with the best experience.”

The incident is reminiscent of another one last year in the U.S. that saw a man aboard a United Airlines plane forcibly removed by airport security guards after refusing a request by the airline to give up his seat. That incident provoked outrage at the airline and security guards as the scenes of violence captured on other passengers’ smartphone video cameras went viral.

“Every time I see this kind of news I get upset,” commented one Weibo user named Bushihenlaidelaichong, who was typical of some of the outrage at the Paris incident. “Whenever Chinese go abroad they don’t dare to lightly make a ruckus. They are only looking for earnest and respectful treatment.”

But others pointed out more information beyond the brief five-second clip was needed to see what exactly happened. “Seeing this kind of short video will only embolden people to express outrage,” said a user named Wujijiaozhu. “Can someone please show the surveillance video that shows the whole incident from start to finish?”

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)