The era of the Hard Rock Café is coming to an end in France. It closed its doors in Paris onlast restaurant in the country of the chain of the same name of American restaurants.
“We regret to inform you that we are closed. We thank you and the city of Paris which has always welcomed us with warmth and enthusiasm”, reads a sign in French and English placed in front of the business on Boulevard Montmartre, in the heart of the capital.
La catena Hard Rock Café
The Hard Rock Cafe International group is a chain of restaurants, hotels and casinos present in more than 70 countries around the world through approximately 250 venuesaccording to its website. It is owned by the Seminole Native American tribe. Hard Rock Cafés are famous for their collections of musical instruments belonged to singers or rock groups, and are resting places frequented by foreign tourists who often leave with a t-shirt – the shop’s best-seller – in memory of their visit.
Its presence in France
The direction ofHard Rock Café in Paris was not able to provide information on the reasons for the closure nor on the number of employees employed, estimated by some French media around 90 units. The Parisian venue, opened in 1991 and located on the Grand Boulevards, offered approx 200 “original pieces by artists”: musical instruments, stage clothes, musicians’ autographs and even personal documents belonging to rock legends such as Elvis Presley and Eric Clapton.
L’Hard Rock Café in Lyon had already closed its doors at the beginning of 2024 and that of Nice in September 2023, after that of Marseille in 2017.
According to the latest available company reports Hard Rock Cafè Francethe company recorded a loss of 1.8 million euros for the 2022 financial year for the Parisian venue, double the previous year. Its turnover was 8.7 million euros, compared to 3.4 million in 2021, and the group then specified that it employs 96 people. The Nice business, for its part, closed 2023 with a loss of 3.8 million and a turnover of 2.5 million; it had 49 employees.