the essential
Sadness, regrets and incomprehension for the last day of operation of the dean of Toulouse hypermarkets. But 2024 no longer has anything to do with the 1970s.
It is the terrible law of the market economy, of the threshold of profitability to be reached, otherwise the bosses suddenly start to think. We know it and we have already written it in our columns, the account had not been there for a long time in the cash registers of the Casino de Basso-Cambo hypermarket, THE store of an entire district, that of Mirail so as not to appoint. And if an entire group ever finds itself in difficulty, then the closure is scheduled for these large stores with a vibrant history.
At that time, on the threshold of the 70s, Patrick Juvet sang “La Musica” in the soundtrack which was broadcast in the middle of the aisles of the Géant Casino, on the heights of a chic and friendly Mirail then in full expansion . From these happy years, a few rare customers still carried their nostalgia this Saturday, October 5, for this last day of opening of the sacrificed supermarket. “It’s the end of an era. I’ve been coming here since 1979. At the beginning, I crossed the fields to do my shopping coming from Reynerie,” recalls Anita, her eyes shining.
“Yes, it really hurts,” adds Rachel. “I’ve been going to the store for 40 years. My husband worked here as a supervisor. Now we’ll have to go to Intermarché or Lidl, but that’ll be further away.” Laurence, who grew up in Mirail and now lives in Muret, remembers: “The distance did not dissuade my parents from coming back from Saint-Lys, when we had moved at the time to Reynerie, to do our shopping on Saturdays. .” “Oh, my Casino, that’s not possible,” exclaims the fifty-year-old who, like many customers, will have forged a real social bond and friendship with her hypermarket.
A new supermarket?
With developments and North African pressure in the surrounding area, the store now offered a rich halal offering and knew how to get in tune with the Ramadan period. “Where are we going to find our products now?” asks Farsane, a little distraught. Fortunately, the butcher’s shop in the shopping arcade (independent of the Casino) will remain open, as will most of the shops in the arcade.
Once again, the management of the hypermarket justifies its closure “due to the Casino group’s refocusing on local stores, such as Casino Shop, Le Petit Casino, SPAR and Vival”. The Casino group which specifies that “during recent months, helped by local elected officials, we have worked hard to find a buyer. Discussions are still ongoing, but to date, no offer has been finalized. However, If a recovery opportunity emerges, it will of course be studied carefully.”
But information quickly circulates among the population and everyone knows that today the shopping center could quickly be demolished and rebuilt. The result is a greener complex, 700 homes, a cinema and… a new supermarket. The first groundbreaking is even expected for 2026.
