Macron has one more chance to save the country or ‘it’s lost for France,’ business owner warns

FIRST ON FOX: A French business owner who had five of her family's stores wrecked by looters last week said this coming Saturday's protest could be a watershed moment for France. Her message to President Emmanuel Macron: "Next Saturday is your last chance to save France," Michèle Teboul, the business owner, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. Addressing both Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Macron, she said, "If they don’t do what’s necessary to do next Saturday, I think it’s lost for France." Teboul lost more than merchandise when looters ransacked 15 of her family’s stores, leaving five completely destroyed.

She also lost faith in her government’s ability to protect them. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: FRANCE BRACES FOR MORE UNREST AFTER PARTS OF PARIS SPUN OUT OF CONTROL Teboul accused authorities of failing to provide enough police to protect businesses, leaving families like hers facing destroyed stores and a costly recovery. She demanded that they protect the population before another Saturday.

Her family’s retail operations include stores in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier. Her sons work within the same company and operate their own brand, she said. For her family, protections put in place before the violence proved insufficient.

Attackers used axes to break through boarding, she said, leaving her sons facing a difficult recovery. "We can say that five of the most important stores have been looted," she said, describing those locations as "completely destroyed." Now, her family needs to pay for additional protection while trying to meet insurers’ security requirements. Teboul said it would take at least two months to repair and secure the stores to the required standards.

She described those requirements as a condition for obtaining insurance coverage, adding another obstacle to reopening and recovering the business. "I think the winter season is dead," she said. VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT FRANCE PROTESTS AS MACRON WARNS UNREST IS BEING EXPLOITED Companies with established operations and financial reserves may be able to absorb the disruption, she said.

Younger businesses face a more difficult path. "The government said they would help us," Teboul said. "We’re going to see." Her sons have hired security guards with dogs.