Rioters Loot London Retailers

Rioters looted and vandalized stores in London, even setting fire to a Miss Selfridge in Manchester. Retailers were advised to close early as the violence worsened in northern and central England.

The violence erupted Saturday when rioters used a peaceful protest against police in Tottenham, north of London, to vandalize and loot shops on the neighborhood’s high street, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

In London, Bond Street’s luxury retailers closed early on Tuesday evening, boarding up shop fronts and stripping their windows of merchandise.

“We expect consumer confidence to remain weak and sentiment is unlikely to be helped by the additional factors of U.K. rioting and the stock market correction,” says Freddie George, a retail analyst for Seymour Pierce in London, on U.K. July retail sales.

In Birmingham, about 500 police guarded the Mailbox, a high-end shopping center. Earlier in the week, a Louis Vuitton store had its windows smashed, while the city’s upscale Bullring shopping mall – home to Selfridges, Hugo Boss and A|X Armani Exchange – also fell victim to the rioters. Some stores, including Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant in Bullring, have already been repaired.