The opening of the Meaux cinema, a new lease of life for traders?

It is in the rural setting of estate of Jean-Claude Brialyin Monthyon, that the traders of Meaux were invited to the new meeting of the merchant advisory committee. Monday April 29, 2024, around twenty of them responded to the town hall’s call. On the agenda: budget allocated by the City to businesses, the feeling of insecuritybut also the reopening of the UGC Le Majestic cinema after four years of closure.

Thursday April 25, 2024, the cinema was inaugurated with great fanfare in the presence of the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, bringing together thousands of residents. “We now have to bounce back, show that this event was not a special case. In the end, cinema and retailers are one. We all sell Meaux », Estimates Jérôme Tisserand, deputy mayor for Culture, Heritage and Cultural and Festive Activities, Institutional and International Relations and Twinning, within the Petits Bouffes theater of Jean-Claude Brialy, man of cinema.

Partnership work with restaurateurs

Well before the opening of the Majestic, Mathieu Nicolas, the director, announced it: he wants to allow customers to resume restaurant-cinema evenings. “We will open every evening until the 10 p.m. session. We want to play the game. If it doesn’t work, we will adapt, but we hope that it will do good for restaurateurs,” he told us last April. So how can Meaux restaurants take advantage of this late opening of UGC?

The cinema director suggested two solutions, responding in particular to a question from the Riverside, located on Place Lafayette. First of all, the cinema menu. Restaurant owners can buy movie tickets at a great price and include them in a special menu. Customers will therefore be able to eat and get a seat at Le Majestic.

Another possibility: give a discount on the final bill when presenting the cinema ticket. “Today, I can’t tell you that it will work, but we have to try,” says Mathieu Nicolas.

Attract spectators to downtown shops

And apart from restaurants? Many merchants have already called on UGC to carry out promoting their store on cinema screens. Some stores also want, like restaurateurs, to buy seats to offer them to their customers. In this case, the association of traders Buy in Meaux is ready to support them.

Traders who wish can contact me. The association will cover half of the purchase price of tickets. We can imagine offering a place from a certain purchase amount in a store in Meaux.

Of the entertainment are currently being considered, including La Verrière and Dunant who are also thinking about actions.

UGC has also established a partnership with Indigo to allow cinema spectators to obtain a reduction on the price of parking. “If you park for four hours, you get a 1.50 euro reduction until June 30. It will be 50 cents afterwards,” explains the director of the Majestic. A way for customers to also enjoy the shops in the city center. “With online reservations for cinema tickets, you can arrive at the last minute. Those who are a little early can wander around the stores. »

The town hall of Meaux will remain attentive to flows in the city center thanks to its MyTraffic tool and will soon be able to provide an overview of attendance and assess the impact of the return of cinema. “We are going to be attentive, analyze the flow day by day to see the change,” explains Julien Leloup, municipal councilor responsible for Works, Roads, Shops, Fairs and Markets and Parking.

For their part, traders have not yet been able to take stock of the first opening weekend; an upcoming meeting of the Buy in Meaux association will also make it possible to collect the first feedback from traders.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.