Wednesday June 26 marked the start of the summer sales, until Tuesday July 23, 2024. Millau merchants are counting on the arrival of tourists to accelerate sales.
The people of Millau did not rush to the shops in these first days of sales.A few years ago, I worked in a shoe store in Toulouse. During the sales period, people were ready to queue for two hours to access the store, now that’s over” testifies Grégory Velsin, store manager at Sport 2000 in Millau.
Competition with Internet purchases is increasingly tough, with prices often being more attractive than in stores. “The offers you find on the net are unbeatable” explains Thomas Dubois, a specialist at Running Conseil. The young man says he is worried about the progress of the dematerialization of sales, to the detriment of local commerce.Today, everything has to be fast, cheap and new. People don’t take into account that we have to pay taxes, fees and rent.”.
Midi Libre – Roman Levi
“The political context is frightening”
This is not the time for unbridled spending. Passers-by interviewed confirm this by explaining that they do not fall into excessive consumption during the sales.I don’t really pay attention to it anymore, if at all, explains a passerby. In reality it doesn’t make much difference whether there are sales or not. Now we find promotions all year round. I sometimes waited until a product was on sale to buy it… but it Was no longer on sale when I went! Now I buy when I need something, sale or no sale.”
A “commercial vacancy” down by 5%
In the city centre of Millau, the observed “commercial vacancy” has gone from 20% in 2020 to 15% in 2024. “Today we are at very interesting rates in a city like ours”Mayor Emmanuelle Gazel, this Thursday evening on the sidelines of the municipal council debates, highlighted this development. “Very soon a series of portraits of new merchants will begin, produced by the City’s communications department. We are going to highlight around forty of them, many young people in particular in the bar-restaurant activity. We can rejoice about that .”
The same observation is made at Emma Boutique, where the saleswoman, Daniele Guerrero, is more optimistic. She is counting on the arrival of tourists to revive the store’s activity. It is true that the economic situation is not optimal, and this June has not been good with the bad weather. Now that the weather is starting to get nice, we will see what the season brings » she concludes.
