Wednesday June 26 marked the start of the summer sales, which last until Tuesday July 23. AVeyron traders are counting on the arrival of tourists to accelerate sales. Not won. Example in Millau.
The people of Millau did not rush to the shops during these first days of sales. “A few years ago, I worked in a shoe store in Toulouse. During the sales period, people were willing to queue for two hours to get to the store, now that’s over”says 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 found on the internet are unbeatable”, explains Thomas Dubois, 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, you have to have everything quickly, cheap and new. People don’t take into account that we have to pay taxes, fees and rent”he adds. 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.
“The political context is scary”
“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 used to wait until a product was on sale to buy it… but it was no longer on sale when I went there! Now I buy when I need something, sale or not! The same observation is made at Emma Boutique, where the saleswoman, Danièle 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 month of June was not good with the bad weather. Now that the weather is starting to get nice, we will see what the season does,” she concludes.
