More than five hundred traders demonstrated Wednesday, November 4 in front of the Bayonne sub-prefecture to ask the government to "
review its copy
" concerning the closures of so-called non-essential businesses during confinement.
Read also: Distribution: the trap of playing small traders against big ones
Unhappy with being described as “
non-essential
”, traders in various towns in the Basque Country, such as Bayonne, Biarritz or Saint-Jean-de-Luz want to reopen “
as quickly as possible
”.
“
We don't want the Covid to kill us in another way,
” said Catherine Gueguen, manager of a cosmetics brand in Anglet.
All of them have Christmas time in their sights.
"
Our stocks are ready, we have everything in before containment, we will file for bankruptcy if we are not allowed to work
", according to the trader.
“
We are being told about digitization, but it is for tomorrow.
We are dying today
”, launched Georges Strullu, head of the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CGPME) which, like all the demonstrators, targets online sales platforms.
"The click and collect will not save us"
For those who have been able to set it up, “
click and collect
” will not solve everything.
"
It's sprinkling, it will save us 10% at best
", regrets Catherine Gueguen.
To read also: With the reconfinement, the automobile takes the turn of the "click and collect"
Many demonstrators said they were "
sacrificed
", and uncertain about what will come next.
"
Under what conditions are we going to be deconfined?
How can we resume?
What will happen in the event of a third or fourth confinement?
", Asked Serge Istèque, representative of Biarritz traders who regrets" that
no lesson has been learned from the first confinement
".
For Marie Jimenez, at the head of a beauty shop, the promises of aid and support from the State are not enough either.
She prefers "
rather to work
".
“
Loans are very nice, but you have to pay them back.
I prefer to remain independent, as I always have been,
”she said.
With this new confinement, restaurants, bars and businesses deemed “non-essential” must keep the curtain down.
Hard hit in the spring, many merchants entered with apprehension in this new putting under cover despite an easing which allows them to remain open for the withdrawal of orders in store.
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"They are more afraid of bankruptcy than of the pandemic": François Asselin understands the traders who try to "save their skin"
