What we know about the new restaurant of the American fast-food chain which will be inaugurated at the end of March, at the entrance to Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès, a town located between Nîmes and Alès…
The building permit sign had been visible since the beginning of the summer and, today, the building has emerged from the ground, revealing this aspect so typical of the fast food chain from across the Atlantic. In Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès, between Nîmes and Alès, Mc Donald's quietly takes up residence at the southern entrance to the town, near the RD 124 which connects the RN 106 to, in particular, Saint-Bénézet. This, behind the Intermarché supermarket brand and a stone's throw from Frédéric-Desmons college.
A manager already “very happy”
Laconic because preferring to go through an official communication operation, the manager of this future Gard fast-food restaurant, Gwenaëlle Stankowiak (who already manages two other restaurants of the brand), declares to be “very happy” to arrive at this site. On a plot of land of 3,437 m2 (next to which a commercial brand dedicated to DIY could also arrive in the medium term), there is a structure of a little more than 400 m2 on the ground and a height which will be slightly greater than five meters.
An inauguration and “a new concept”
The inauguration is already scheduled for Monday March 24, at 6:30 p.m., in the presence of some 200 guests, among whom could be, in addition to local elected officials, Jérôme Bonet, the prefect of Gard, and the director of Mc Donald's France, to reveal “a new concept” restaurant. From this, it is visibly “a little early to talk about it”they say on the side of Mc Donald's France, even if it is specified that it will be“somewhat original decorative work” and the test “new services and new processes, less visible to the customer”.
The mayor of Saint-Geniès is satisfied
“This will create around forty jobs”rejoices Jean-François Durand-Coutelle, the mayor of Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès. In fact, the group is planning around thirty recruitments initially, in collaboration with France Travail. For the chief magistrate, the choice of location is “impeccable” since this new Mc Do “will allow many people to go there instead of going to Alès or Nîmes”. In any case, this establishment reflects, for him, “a dynamism of the commune”. As evidenced by the increase in its population which INSEE established, at the start of the year, at 3,172 inhabitants in 2022, compared to 2,991 in 2016. And Jean-François Durand-Coutelle even announces that “the local urban plan will be voted on February 7 and we will create an area of 6.5 hectares for housing”which will be arranged “when the new wastewater treatment plant will be operational, in 2027-2028”.
-Economic potential taken into account
These comments agree with the statements of Mc Donald's France which explains that an opening “is always decided in relation to economic potential”depending on the development potential of a territory. “Moreover, we are often asked to revitalize a sector”we indicate. In short, studies are previously carried out and “a lot of work has been done”. In any case, there is no doubt that the evolution of the demography of Gardonnenque, or even beyond, which is progressing or remains at least stable, has weighed in the balance: in La Calmette, 2,572 inhabitants in 2022 compared to 2 120 in 2016; in Sauzet, 827 in 2022 compared to 744 in 2016; in La Rouvière, 664 in 2022 compared to 596 in 2016. Also further north, where other municipalities continue to grow: in Ners, 791 in 2022 compared to 751 in 2021; in Vézénobres, 1,839 in 2022 compared to 1,836 in 2021; in Lédignan, 1,520 in 2022 compared to 1,502 the previous year, etc.
Why build so far from the RN 106?
This being said, some might be surprised that Gwenaëlle Stankowiak's new establishment is not closer to the RN 106, in La Calmette for example, since the group does not hide its attraction for “frequented roads”. The Mc Donald's France representative contacted provided an explanation: “We are opening in configurations that are a little less natural than in the past. Municipalities with 3,000 inhabitants are formats where the openings have worked well, where there is demand and an appetite.” Moreover, he even confides that a Mc Do has successfully opened in a town in Eure of only 1,500 souls…
The problem of litter already “mentioned”
In Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès, even before the arrival of the first customers, the “packaging problem” has been “evoked”. What about the papers that could end up in nature, the surrounding vineyards? “The manager has a contract with a private company”declares Jean-François Durand-Coutelle. “And she undertakes that around the restaurant, an agent will be responsible for picking up trash.”
