“In fifteen years of career, I have rarely seen so few people for the first day of the sales. Deputy manager of the André shoe store at the Alma center in Rennes, Majda seems a little disappointed. It must be said that the spans of the largest shopping center in Brittany are rather sparse this Wednesday afternoon. Same impression rue Le Bastard, the main shopping street in the city center, where it is not crowded on big days. “I don’t know where the customers have gone,” smiles a salesman.
Against a backdrop of inflation and declining purchasing power, the context does not encourage, it is true, to succumb to buying fever. “Usually, I have a budget of 200 to 300 euros for the sales, indicates Caroline. But it will be much less this year, I will buy useful. “Coming with their daughter, Didier and Isabelle did not plan to splurge either. “We were already paying attention to our expenses before, but now it’s even worse,” warns the couple. We will therefore make well-targeted purchases that we really need. »
“The word sales no longer means much”
For some, the sales are still an opportunity to do good business. As a student, José fell in love with a sweatshirt he had been eyeing for several weeks. “I took advantage of a big discount because I would never have been able to afford it at full price”, underlines the young man. Crossed with her daughter in the Alma center gallery, Stéphanie took advantage of private sales just before the sales to have fun. “I just come to see in the store if I have done good business”, says the mother of the family, who no longer does “the sales for the sales” as before. “Private sales are more interesting and in addition we find all sizes,” she says.
Between online purchases, competition from private sales and discounts throughout the year, sales, once unavoidable, indeed seem to have lost their charm with customers. An observation shared by many traders. “The word sales no longer means much,” says Simon, manager of the Jack & Jones store in downtown Rennes. It barely lasts four days and there’s nothing attractive about it anymore. “After a good end to the year, the winter sales are also “not a big issue” for the merchant. “There’s no point in having stock, because it doesn’t sell,” he says.
A few streets away, Feng, manager of the Coucou Studio store, doesn’t have too much stock to sell this year either. This is good because the customer is rare in his shop. “The beginning of sales is always complicated in small shops like ours,” says the young woman. But this year, I have the impression that it will be very complicated. As a reminder, the winter sales run until February 7.