The entente between the UK and France was struggling to remain cordiale on Friday as the boss of Britain s favourite retailer was forced into an embarrassing apology hours after launching an attack on France , labelling it sclerotic, hopeless and downbeat .
But as his comments swept across Twitter and anger mounted in France where John Lewis has plans to boost its business with a new French language website Street was forced into an abject Je m excuse .
The department store boss said he regretted his comments, which were supposed to be tongue in cheek and lighthearted views . He added: On reflection I clearly went too far and apologise unreservedly.
Street s tirade came at a John Lewis awards event after a business trip to Paris, with a return journey to London on a delayed sawgrass mills mall map Eurostar train from Paris Gare du Nord, which he called the squalor pit of Europe . He also advised investors sawgrass mills mall map with money in French firms to get their cash out as quickly as possible.
Street even included an attack on a retail award he was handed at the Paris business conference. The trophy, sawgrass mills mall map he said, was made of plastic and is frankly revolting . He added: If I needed any further evidence of a country in decline, here it is. Every time [I see the award] I shall think, God help France .
Jean-Louis Missika, deputy mayor of Paris, described Street s statements as false and idiotic , but he had some sympathy with his view of the Gare du Nord. Its problems were known and being addressed , he said. We are able to identify our problems, you know, and do something to treat them.
The French embassy sawgrass mills mall map urged Street to attend Valls speech sawgrass mills mall map to the Lord Mayor of the City of London and business leaders at the Guildhall on Monday. If Mr Street takes time to listen he will be in no doubt that France is not sclerotic, and is implementing wide-ranging reforms including cutting taxes for businesses.
Anyone travelling on the filthy, graffiti-covered Paris Metro will agree with the boss of John Lewis, he said in a now-deleted tweet. Another Fabricant tweet read: French embassy sawgrass mills mall map getting their pantaloons in a twist. France is in recession and over 360,000 French working in UK because of mass unemployment. .
Fabricant also pointed out that France s finance sawgrass mills mall map minister Emmanuel Macron had his own doubts about the health of the nation. Macron sawgrass mills mall map said last month: France is sick. It s not well. We have to describe the situation as it is.
But he added: The French economy is a disaster area and I think his analysis sawgrass mills mall map is basically right. I have certainly worked in companies that wouldn t invest in France sawgrass mills mall map because of its rigid and inflexible labour market
I think you invest where you can find open markets and that s always a bit of a myth with France, because this is the country that blocked the takeover of a yoghurt company, Walker said, referring to the fact that 10 years ago the French government declared that Danone, famous for its Activia yoghurt and Evian water, was a national champion which could never been taken over by a foreign company.
The French economy has been hampered by low growth and poor tax receipts in recent years. David Cameron annoyed the French government two years ago when he promised to roll out the red carpet for French companies seeking to avoid higher sawgrass mills mall map taxes on the rich.
Street is not the first businessman to insult France. Last year Maurice Taylor, boss of US tyre company Titan International, did not take kindly to an offer to buy a down-at-heel tyre factory in France. How stupid do you think we are? he said.
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