As of Monday, it will again be possible to have your hair cut at the hairdresser, stroll through a bookstore or buy a pair of shoes after trying it on in stores. All shops will be able to reopen, regardless of the color of their department, " with the exception of convivial places such as cafes, bars and restaurants ", confirmed the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire . This will also be true in Île-de-France, even if the virus is actively circulating there. Cafes, bars and restaurants will have to wait until the end of May to know the date of their reopening. It can be differentiated according to the departments.
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Monday, 400,000 shops (including 77,000 hairdressing salons and 15,000 florists) will welcome their customers again, provided they comply with strict health rules. They will have to guarantee a distance of one meter between customers, as food stores have done so far. A density of a customer for a maximum of 4 square meters must be respected. Merchants may also require their customers to wear a mask to enter their store. This will for example be the case in optical or hairdressing shops.
Some of these businesses had partially continued their activity by offering home delivery or the withdrawal of orders in store. But for the most part, the past two months have represented a complete cessation of their activity.
Bruno Le Maire mentioned only one exception to this general reopening of non-food businesses: shopping centers of more than 40,000 square meters, such as the Forum des Halles in Paris, likely to attract crowds. They can reopen in agreement with the prefect ... except in Île-de-France, where they must remain closed for the time being. It is a bad surprise for the managers of these shopping centers, who had established contacts with the prefecture to prepare for their reopening.
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Those of more than 40,000 m2 located outside the Île-de-France region, as well as the stores they house, are on their side still in uncertainty, four days from their potential opening. The prefect's decision whether or not to close these centers is not yet known. " It is not easy, under these conditions, to organize the arrival of staff or the delivery of goods, " laments Emmanuel Le Roch, general delegate of Procos, the Federation of specialized trade.
