The sales kicked off on Wednesday, June 26. Independent retailers in Lyon are banking on this period to replenish their coffers while facing various obstacles.
Following demonstrations by Lyon traders last week to protest against the pedestrianisation of the Presqu’île, the sales period began on Wednesday 26 June and will end on Wednesday 23 July.
A crucial period for traders, the start of the sales is not as expected, in particular for independent businesses.
Lyon Capitale met with three independent retailers to take stock: all are struggling to get their sales off the ground. The manager of Indigo (a men’s ready-to-wear store) deplores a drop in footfall in his store compared to the previous year, and the absence of his Swiss customers who usually come at this time of year. The same assessment for Victoria, manager of the ready-to-wear store Les Jacobines : “I was hoping for more from the start of the sales.”
“People are saturated with private sales”
The traders we met deplore external competition through online purchasing: “We have a big problem with private sales […]I think people are saturating and no longer know when is the right time to buy” she continues. In addition, she is sorry to see her customers turn to fast fashion brands like Zara or Mango, instead of stores located a few hundred meters away, whose attractiveness and accessibility attract.
The pedestrianization work in the city center is not helping their affairs. The work aims to reduce the circulation of motor vehicles in the center of Lyon, impacting attendance at local businesses, according to traders. “People from outside the city come less because there are no more parking spaces or because they are too expensive. So, they prefer to go to the commercial areas.” “It’s going to get worse and worse“, predicts Miek, manager of the Gandy Lyon centre leather goods store.
Finally, the political situation is not helping matters. Shopkeepers fear that their windows will be damaged and that customers will desert the city centre where various demonstrations are organised daily.
A duel between traders and the Lyon city hall
At the end of the discussions, one person regularly comes up in the discussion: Grégory Doucet. “They don’t listen to us, because the eco guy wants the bikes.”, Miek recalls, referring to the mayor of Lyon.For traders, it’s death.”, she says. She mentions several solutions: a free public transport network, more free parking, putting in more relay parking lots, but “the mayor doesn’t do it“, still referring to the mayor of Lyon.
However, environmentalists defend their vision and speak of a “adaptation required“. If Emeline Baume, vice-president of the Lyon Metropolis responsible for the economy and trade, is “fully (aware) that the work is inconvenient, it is disruptive and uncomfortable for both the merchant and the customer”she nevertheless recalls that “This peninsula is the centre of the territory, where tourists necessarily pass. It will remain the central zone of the territory, prosperous, and it will be prosperous precisely because we will have carried out these development projects”.
It is not certain, however, that the three traders we met will be reassured.
Read also: “Adaptation necessary”: in Lyon, Environmentalists defend their vision in the face of protests
