Pay protest disrupts Paris store's X'mas event

STORY: “Not happy! Not happy,” protesters chanted, waving union flags and tooting horns as the store director Alexandre Liot tried to address journalists.

"It's been years since we've had salary increases, and now they have good earnings and they forget about us," said protesting employee Djamel M'rah, who has been working at the iconic store for 26 years.

“We are sorry this happened,” said a Galeries Lafayette spokesperson, noting that the protesting unions did not reflect the “quality of the company’s social dialogue.”

The protests come as European retailers brace for shoppers to cut spending this holiday season, while the costs of doing business show no sign of abating, squeezing profit margins.