Between two Euro 2024 football matches and the campaign for early legislative elections, we could almost have forgotten the discounts that have been invading the stores since Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
The summer sales will last until July 23 in all departments of metropolitan France, with the exception of Corsica.
And in Blois, solidarity between traders is taking hold. Because we know the difficulty that city center sellers sometimes have in resisting competition from large shopping centers on the outskirts of the city.
“Work together”
So, during this sales period, we went to meet merchants in the heart of Blois – who are not affected by the reductions (hairdressers, insurance companies, chocolatiers, convenience stores, etc.) – to find out if they showed solidarity with their neighbors by consuming only in the city center.
Lorenzo, a hairdresser at The Beard Brothers, is particularly sensitive to the subject: “We, the shopkeepers in the center, try to work together… This is my idea of things because I am a native of Blois. Afterwards, I don’t know if everyone reacts like me. In the evening after work, I go shopping in the heart of the city. We try to keep friends alive, we try to show solidarity. » And to specify as an example: “Ever since I was little, I used to dress up at Mighty Moe Skateshop.”
“I rediscovered the city center”
Right next door, at Cora’s, the saleswoman Aurore is in the same frame of mind: “I’ve been here for two years. I stop to see what’s in the shops: I’ve rediscovered the city centre of Blois. I also try to encourage some customers to do the same.”
The traders encountered in the city center show solidarity.
© Photo NR, Jérôme Dutac
“One in two stores is closed! »
This “solidarity” is very concrete for Shauna who sees some of her colleagues passing through her Rosalie boutique.
A little further away, Lola, Sophie and Cyrille are busy typing on their computer keyboards. These three employees of the Mutuelle de Poitiers assurances point the finger at the heart of the city “dying: one in two stores is closed!”.
All three regret that “The shops close between noon and two.” “I used to go to a beautician on my lunch break, explains Sophie, but now that it’s closing, I’m going to the zone. »
An opinion shared by Bénédicte, from the Vaucher boutique: “I take advantage of the discounts in the city center, but there still have to be the shops we are looking for… They all relocate to the commercial areas. For example, there is not much left for men, or children…”
