The Prime Minister returned this Tuesday on the plan to reopen businesses, eagerly awaited by the profession as well as customers. Back on three key questions.
Who will reopen?
First point: with the exception of cafes and restaurants - for which a decision will be made at the end of May -, the shops will reopen on May 11. "We are satisfied, it was our main demand", rejoices Jacques Creyssel, the president of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD). Will they all be affected or will those located in the departments considered "red" in terms of the spread of the virus be asked to wait?
Requested this Tuesday, Bercy specifies that this reopening will concern "all stores in all departments". The markets, the majority of which are closed for the time being, will be "generally authorized", unless the mayors believe that the sanitary conditions are not met. Finally, with regard to shopping centers, they will also be able to welcome new customers, except those of more than 40,000 m2. Why ? Because they "could drain populations outside the living area" according to the Prime Minister, hence an increased risk of reactivation of the epidemic. In their case, "the prefects could decide not to open them," he said.
“We were surprised by this announcement, especially since 50% of our stores are in shopping centers, reacts Benoît Legrand, director of the Go Sport network. We will have to wait for the prefect to return on this subject, but in what timing? For our part, we had already planned the return of our employees to the store on Monday May 4 in order to prepare our points of sale for May 11 ”. These 108 shopping centers of over 40,000 m2 out of 835 in France "represent 41% of the turnover of the sector", also regrets Gontran Thüring, the general delegate of the National Center of shopping centers (CNCC) who "nevertheless has good hope to see them reopen, because their catchment area is often integrated into the living area ”.
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What will be the security measures?
Organized flows in order to respect the space of a minimum of one meter between customers, rules of distancing to respect, protection of staff, wearing of a mask recommended for staff and customers ... "Each business must meet strict specifications" , insisted the Prime Minister. Above all, traders can make it mandatory to wear a mask to enter their store.
For Yohann Petiot, the general delegate of the Trade Alliance, which represents 450 clothing and footwear brands, many points remain unclear. "The Prime Minister spoke of a strict specification, but what is it? We don't know. He mentioned flow control, but on what criteria? How do we do the fitting rooms? And then, we will have to provide masks to the employees but still will it be necessary to succeed in obtaining supplies. We are still in uncertainty, ”he regrets. One positive point, however: "we asked not to be obliged to provide masks to our customers and it was heard".
Will businesses be ready?
Many of them did not wait for the announcements of Edouard Philippe to develop a "plan". The Trade Alliance is therefore awaiting feedback from Bercy on the "recommendations that we sent them to implement the measures". Other brands have also taken the lead in view of May 11. “Very quickly, in March, we anticipated and ordered 500,000 masks, which constitutes three months of inventory but also 10,000 bottles of gel, 1,000 disinfectant sprays or 500 plexiglass and 1,000 visors. We did well to anticipate because we just received this morning, the masks when we had ordered on March 25, ”explains Benoît Legrand of Go Sport, who also defined a customer journey upstream. “Our employees will obviously have masks, as well as, for each position, a precise sheet of prevention and measures to adopt. For customers, there will be gel at the entrance and at the level of the benches when they try on the shoes. The fitting rooms will however be closed, but we have extended the return policy to 60 days. And when a product is returned, it will be quarantined overnight, ”he lists.
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Finally, there will be a regulation of the flow at the entrance: “we took as a ratio 1 person per 10 m2. There will be markings on the ground at the entrance to the stores and inside in all static areas, such as at the cash desks, in the workshops for flocking of jerseys or for repair. We do not intend to force our customers to wear a mask to enter our stores because it seems to me that we have taken all measures to guarantee the health safety of our customers and our employees. "
