'It's mine, give it back!' Heatwave sparks chaos at Lidl over $205 air conditioners in France

Scenes of chaos erupted at Lidl hypermarkets across France as shoppers brawled and shouted over discounted air conditioners and fans amid another forecast heatwave.

The discount chain put roughly 200,000 air conditioners and fans on sale at multiple French stores Wednesday (local time), according to AFP and other outlets. Word spread quickly that portable air conditioners normally priced at several hundred euros would be available for 179 euros ($205), drawing long lines outside stores from the early hours.

Videos posted to TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) showed crowds surging through Lidl stores, with shoppers shoving and shouting at one another to grab products. At some locations, the rush of customers tore entrance doors off their hinges the moment stores opened, and police were called to handle disputes over line-cutting and pushing.

Local outlet Focus Media reported that a woman attacked another woman at a Lidl store while trying to buy a cooling unit, and a man who tried to intervene was left with a bloodied face. "Tensions linked to poor stock management during the heatwave continue to simmer," the outlet said.

The situation worsened after reports spread that some Lidl stores had stocked as few as one or two air conditioners despite the advertised sale. Some customers accused the retailer of failing to prepare adequately and of not disclosing the limited stock in its advertising, even though it knew large crowds would show up.

One witness posted on X: "The air conditioners sold out in seconds. In an absolutely insane crowd, people were fighting over the last remaining units."

Other shoppers vented their frustration online. "Fights over the last item on the shelf just keep multiplying," one wrote, while another said the "frenzy at a Lidl store on Friday morning, July 3, was beyond human behavior." A third lamented that "France is truly falling apart over fans and air conditioners."

France has historically had lower air-conditioning penetration than many other European countries. According to the French Environment Agency (Ademe), the share of households with air conditioning rose from 18 percent in 2023 to 24 percent in 2025, but most homes and schools still lack adequate cooling.

An unprecedented heatwave that has gripped much of Europe since last month has changed the calculus entirely.

An Ipsos poll released in early June found that 78 percent of French people considered air conditioning harmful to the environment — but after the heat persisted for more than 10 days, stocks at hypermarkets and electronics stores sold out completely.

Retail giant Carrefour said it sold 30,000 air conditioners this summer through June 22, a figure it described as 1,000 times its normal sales volume.