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– 64% of Bordeaux companies are directly liquidated, compared to 56% in 2009, the year of the previous record. (Illustrative photo)
Bordeaux is suffering. Since the complete end of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses in the city-prefecture of Gironde have been in crisis according to West France. Sainte-Catherine Streetthe commercial artery of Bordeaux, has even lost three million visitors in 2023, according to video surveillance cameras which are also used to count the number of pedestrians. According to the president of the Bordeaux commercial court, Marc Salaün, the situation is becoming serious.
«In 2023 […] we opened 1,345 collective procedures (judicial measures which aim to guarantee the continuation of a company’s activity and to maintain employment, Editor’s note)compared to 873 in 2019”notes Marc Salaün. At the end of September 2024, there are already 1,299 companies in difficulty compared to 873 at the end of September 2019. “If we smooth out this trend, we should reach nearly 1,800 collective procedures by the end of the year”continues the professional. Also, 64% of companies are directly liquidated, compared to 56% in 2009, the year of the previous record.
Anger in Gironde: bottles of wine sold for 5 cents after the liquidation of a castle
A “peaceful city” which is costly for traders
And the causes of this slew of judicial liquidations are multiple. First, businesses located on Sainte-Catherine Street note that the postal codes requested during checkout are less and less those of extra-ring towns. In question: a “peaceful city”decently desired by the environmentalist mayor, Pierre Hurmic, which reduces the number of customers’ chances to park and drive conveniently in town. Also, companies are facing the harm of state-guaranteed loans that they took out during the pandemic.
“Those who had contracted [ce prêt] up to 50% of their turnover, while they were in balance or in negative territory, had to find 25% of self-financing capacity per year for two years to repay. We see that, in current conditions, it is very difficult to hold on.says the president of the commercial court. “They lent us our turnover, as if they lent us our salary. Except that afterwards, you have to pay it back”joins the president of the Bordeaux traders’ association, Georges Simon.
