IN the middle of 2008, construction began on France’s biggest mall project in a decade. Weeks later the U.S. credit and housing crisis slammed into Europe, and Le Millenaire’s promoters braced for a big hit to their hopes.

    Reality was even harsher.

    In 2014 neon placards gleam from the top of the completed mall in working-class Aubervilliers. But several of the names they advertise — like high-street fashion stores Desigual and OVS Industry — are no longer to be found inside. One in six of the mall’s stores shut down because the shoppers failed to come.

    The 140-store center, dubbed a “ghost mall” by some visitors, epitomizes the current state of France: high expectations stalled by low spending, dispirited entrepreneurs and a lack of growth prospects since GDP slumped 2.9 percent in 2009 and failed to really turn around since.

    While from central Paris the beleaguered government calls on Europe to abandon its focus on austerity to boost investment and growth, Le Millenaire, in its northeastern suburb, is now targeting the only healthy retail business there is — discount stores that appeal to cash-strapped shoppers.

    Consumer spending contracted by 0.9 percent in October after falling 0.5 percent in September, constrained by unemployment stuck above 10 percent.

    The future of Le Millenaire and similar projects now depends on whether President Francois Hollande can deliver on policies aimed at reviving consumer spending — for decades a key motor of growth in the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.

    A series of recent reforms have sought to boost the disposable incomes of ordinary French households.

    The 2015 budget scraps the lowest band of personal income tax, a measure intended to put a total 3.2 billion euros (US$4 billion) back into the pockets of 6 million taxpayers.

    And a bill presented by economy minister Emmanuel Macron to Cabinet earlier this month lowers prices in essential services — such as legal fees paid on moving home — in an attempt to increase the spending power of the average French household.

    But while independent economists have welcomed what they see as an attempt to revitalize the economy, many are cautious about the impact.

    Societe Generale economist Michel Martinez estimated that all the measures in the Macron bill — which also includes a loosening of laws on Sunday trading — would at best raise gross domestic product by 0.5 percent over five to 10 years.

    “Everyone knows this will not change the face of France,” he noted.

    Back at Le Millenaire, on a recent Wednesday afternoon when the schools are closed and the Christmas shoppers should be out, the mall was eerily quiet despite its glitzy lighting.

    “It’s utterly dead. I can’t find the words to describe this mall,” sighed Axelle Yaba, 23, a hairdresser perpetually tidying up her salon to keep busy. She had just four clients that day.

    When it opened in 2011, Le Millenaire — jointly owned by real estate firms Klepierre and Icade —hoped for up to 14 million visitors a year. It is only bringing in 6 million.

    “Everyone in France is feeling the spending power crisis,” says Guillaume Lapp, head of Klepierre’s French malls division.(SD-Agencies)