Nantes wants to limit the possibility of opening two Sundays before Christmas only to stores in the city centre…
Despite their repeated requests, shopping centres and retail warehouses will not be able to open their doors on Sundays before Christmas. Nantes City Council has decided to renew the arrangements put in place for the first time last year: the shops are allowed to open two Sundays for the afternoon from 2pm till 7pm before the year-end holidays.
This authorization issued by the mayors of each municipality will be considered, however, with the prior agreement of the trade unions and traders. But these agreements have not yet been concluded, especially because some promenades of periphery refuse to be apart of the device the second year.
“If there is no agreement, there will be no opening”
“I hope that the public interest prevails, says Johanna Rolland, President of Nantes City council. Our position is clear: we will go no further than what had worked in 2014. If there is no agreement, there will be no opening. ”
“This scenario would be a disaster, everyone would lose, worries Nathalie Deniau-Million, president of the association of traders of Nantes city centre. It is true that the pressure on the part of the periphery is higher this year. But I remain optimistic. The wish of all is to move forward rather than backward. ”
Positive results overall
The opening of the two Sunday afternoons before Christmas shopping last year was generally considered a success, both in terms of attendance of city centres at the level of turnover. The agreement signed by trade unions in particular claimed that they could work as volunteer employees and benefiting from financial counterparties (doubling the hourly rate).
