PHOTOS – Dozens of closed stores in downtown Belfort

Commercial life in Belfort was marked this year by the closure of several businesses in the city center. Camaïeu, Micromania… the examples are numerous, particularly in recent weeks. Some emblematic brands of the Belfort landscape such as Lafond vest or the Court of the Halleshave lowered the curtain or announced their imminent closure. They only leave vacant premises, which are added to dozens of others. Just take a little walk to see empty stores and tagged windows, some for a long time. France Bleu Belfort-Montbéliard photographed some more than thirty.

Note, however, that some stores are not permanently closed. The premises are under construction for other brands like for example in the old town: a groomer instead of the beauty salon or a tea room instead of the haberdashery.

Three closure announcements in one month

Latest closures: the century-old ready-to-wear boutique Gilbert Lafond boulevard Carnot [NDLR fermée depuis le 5 octobre]the comic book store Olybrius rue des Capucins, or the greengrocer Court of the Halles at the end of the Faubourg de France.

These three downtown businesses have gone out of business or are preparing to do so. As with others before them, this is explained by the change in consumption habits customers, who turn to shopping centers and the internet, or even due to parking difficulties. “Commerce no longer has the same activitynotes François Boronclerk at the Commercial Court of Belfort, the competent court in commercial matters at first instance. Today on the outskirts there are many shopping areas, consumers prefer to go there, or order online.he analyzes.

On the windows of the Olybrius bookstore, which is scheduled to close for good on Saturday October 12, posters announce reductions of 25% on certain comics, 35% on figurines and 50% on screen prints.

The number of collective procedures handled by the Belfort commercial court, that is to say safeguarding or closing businesses, has increased between Belfort and Montbéliard, assures François Boron. 193 are in progress to date. A logical increase, recalls the clerk, due to the fact “that we catch up with a situation of ‘whatever it takes’. We find ourselves back to a pre-covid situation.”

Unoccupied old-fashioned businesses

The center of the 4 AS, almost ghost

The 4 Aces shopping center looks pale in October 2024. Renovated in 2017the shopping center has completely changed in seven years and has been emptied of its businesses. Today it has around ten empty premises, especially upstairs. The ready-to-wear store 17th Avenue notably closed its doors in spring 2024, after more than thirty-five years of activity.