A sale of two cities

It's interesting to see how the winter retail sales are played out in London and Paris. For one, the Paris sales are mandated by law that retail stores are only allowed to have 2 sales per year and there is a pre-determined date when the sale starts and ends. In London, the retail stores began slashing prices as earlier as christmas last year, in an effort to draw in the crowds and there is not really an end to the sale period - the sale ends offically when all the products on sale are sold out!
In Paris, the stores are pretty discreet about how the sale is being advertised. In most stores, there is hardly any signs to publicize about the discounts. In addition, the price cuts are still pretty subdued by many standards - usually a price discount of 20% is considered generous. I sense that there is a stigma attached to be seen buying discounted stuff in Paris, or it could be that most parisians have already made their way cross the Atlantic to partake in the London sale. Given the strength of the euro in the recent weeks, it is no surprise that the French have choosen to visit London during this sale period, to maximise their purchasing power.

Here's a pretty cool Paris sale site - there's even a recommendation on the different possible shopping circuits in Paris.