Global construction supplier and retailer Saint-Gobain has closed its La Maison building material stores in China, according to a report in Agence France Presse. 

La Maison's 86,000-sq.-ft. flagship store and six design showrooms in Shanghai stopped operating during the week of March 10, a company spokesman told AFP. He blamed recent measures by the Chinese government to cool the housing boom and the change in construction practices, which are building more “finished” properties outfitted with electrical, plumbing and other “pre-decorations.”