traders also hope to benefit from the festival

On the eve of the passage of the flame, this Friday, May 24, 2024, Poitiers (Vienna) is potentially preparing to welcome a large crowd, lined up along the route, from the Golden Triangle to the Palais des Ducs. Traders are preparing for all scenarios.

In Vienne, after Charente this Friday May 24, 2024, Poitiers is preparing to welcome the Olympic flame in the coming hours. Some streets are already closed to traffic and parking is prohibited. Faced with still unknown attendance, traders are still in the dark.

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“Either it will be the mass effect, or it will be the desert because people will have gone to position themselves at the barriers to watch the flame pass” : in this high-end store in the city center, Emma*, the manager of the furniture section, doesn’t yet know where to stand. In the store, only two employees out of four will be present to manage customers. “If we have traffic, it could be difficult”adds the manager. “We sell large pieces of furniture, but we plan more on impulse purchases.”

In the aisles, boxes are still being unpacked and products carefully arranged. “Fortunately we didn’t have a delivery… Recently, a customer came to pick up two large cushions, she left with her large bag to join her husband who was parked in double line. That wouldn’t have happened. was possible tomorrow”she continues.

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Indeed, traffic conditions will be drastic this Saturday, May 25. “Maybe there will be thousands of people, we don’t know. So are we planning additional staff, and also, will employees be able to be present if they don’t can’t park their car?”Emma wonders.

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Same question for the manager of this hotel near Poitiers station. For the moment, the occupancy rate of his establishment is barely reaching 35%. “There are even fewer people than usual”she attests. “And today, customers live from day to day and book at the last minute, but we can say that for the Olympic flame, people would have booked in advance. And what’s more, it falls on a weekend.”

It is therefore time for disappointment. “We had set our prices based on high attendance. We really expected an impact, and over the weeks, we have had to lower our prices”she laments.

In addition to potential tourists, traders also intend to target local customers. For some of them, this weekend is a particularly important time, with the sequence of the passing of the flame and Mother’s Day. “It’s true that people will perhaps be less able to make their purchases at the last minute, for example tomorrow morning”, recognizes Thomas Picaud. He manages one of the three stores of the Rannou-Métivier family business. In the windows of this newly renovated store, carefully aligned pyramids of macaroons and macaroons await gourmets.

“We are more aimed at a regular clientele, who live in the city center. We are a local business. There, with the passing of the flame, we are on a very punctual basis, we are rather going to reach a public which we do not do not know”he hopes.

Thomas Picaud has in any case ordered more stocks to meet any additional demand. “If we have people from today, for us, it’s a great showcase. And maybe people will buy more macaroons, especially for Mother’s Day and share with family”he summarizes. “And if people turn away from the city center, for fear of having too many people for example, customers will be able to head towards our other stores, outside the center.”

Another unknown remains for this historic day: the weather, which has been rather gloomy in recent days. At the Café du Commerce, located on Place du Maréchal-Leclerc, one of the strategic points for the passage of the flame, the teams have planned it for Saturday. “We were lent a beer tap, the teams don’t take a day off, it’s not possible”says Marie Corduan, waitress in the establishment.

This serves on average 100 seats for lunch on a Saturday in good weather, and 50 seats in the evening. So Marie Corduan hopes that the figures will be at least as high. “Around ten people have already reserved the floor to better see the flame,” declares the young woman. “We hope it will be positive, but we don’t know at all, we’re in the dark.”

In another restaurant near the Place du Maréchal-Leclerc, on the contrary, we expect high attendance. “The town hall asked us to move our terrace, rue Saint-Benoît, and to leave more room for cars to pass”designates Éric Marchand, room manager of the Rouge Basilic restaurant.

The town hall asked us to move our terrace.

Eric Marchand

Room manager of the Rouge Basilic restaurant in Poitiers

And this new provision is not without some modifications in the organization of the team of four employees. “The terrace is longer, so we have less visibility of the tables from the restaurant and we have to be outside all the time,” estimates the young man. “And what’s more, we’ll probably have to open the upstairs, so that gives us several places to manage at the same time.”

Upstairs, a warm decoration, in red and white colors, already awaits guests, in the immediate vicinity of the town hall. An ideal spot, but however, there is no question of being too assertive: “It’s 50/50. Either people have lunch at home and go see the flame, or they go to a restaurant.” Especially since a small last minute incident interfered in the preparations for the big day: certain drinks, a major expense for customers, were not delivered on time due to the bridges at the start of the May.

“Since September 2023, we have had positive results, but for the month of May, that’s not it. On public holidays, people don’t go to restaurants. So, yes, we hope to have activity “, smiles the catering professional. And perhaps even beat the restaurant’s attendance record: 170 seats in one evening.

(*first name changed)