Is the OL Vallée leisure center already enjoying “real enthusiasm”, three months after its opening?


“Leisure will bring a lot of people, and it will be up to us, restaurateurs, to keep all these people. On June 9, at the inauguration of OL Vallée in Décines, the manager of Ninkasi, Olivier Milesi, found this winning formula. 20 minutes wanted to see if, three months later, “the largest leisure center in France” (according to Jean-Michel Aulas), with more than 23,000 m2 devoted to 17 brands, had successfully started up. In this September start, it is no surprise that none of the 32 tracks of the immense Bowling des Lumières is reserved for a Thursday noon. Its manager Jean-Michel Jullien nevertheless draws “a very positive first assessment” of his first official steps near the Parc OL.

“During the school holidays, we had an average of a thousand customers per day on weekends and 500 during the week,” he says. There, we know that it will be dead calm during the day until the October holidays. Despite this, the place does not hesitate to maintain its daily opening hours from 11 am (or even 10 am) to 1 am. Delighted to finally get to know “the end of a long Stations of the Cross”, after having embarked on this project with OL since 2012, well before the inauguration of the Parc OL, the manager of the Bowling des Lumières is therefore enjoying his beginnings.

“Three weeks in advance for reservations” in terms of surfing

The enthusiasm is even higher on the side of City Surf Park Lyon. “Without language of wood, we are not at all worried because the attendance goes beyond our expectations for an opening, announces the founder of the place Aymeric Désert. It is a new activity which is benefiting from a real enthusiasm. This summer we attract between 100 and 150 people testing the biggest wave of surfing every day indoor Europe, as well as a hundred seats. For surfing, we have three weeks in advance for reservations. There are as many 12-year-olds as high-level surfers. “

Three months after its opening, the City Surf Park continues to arouse strong curiosity among residents of the Lyon region. – Jérémy Laugier / 20 Minutes

So much so that OL Vallée’s most astonishing attraction was systematically taken by storm by curious people who did not hesitate to come from all over the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, before many team buildings companies do not take over for this fall. But at Décines, it’s still two rooms, two atmospheres, when you decide to switch to restaurant brands.

“We feel that we are not in Lyon”

“It’s a bit of a hassle so far, spontaneously indicates Xavier Fiard, former professional rugby player at LOU and now at the head of Salad’rit. We end up with about fifty covers per day. We feel that we are not in Lyon but in a somewhat shy area. Moreover, we find ourselves assimilated only to a leisure center when there are more restaurants than leisure activities on site. “Next door, BCHEF even announces” only 30 covers per day “, as the manager Sébastien Anthérieu regrets. It somehow saves its business thanks to Uber Eats, which represents 50% of its sales. With one exception to the program: the establishment’s 75 seats are taken by storm about fifteen minutes before the kick-off of each OL match.

La Salad'rit does not hide its concerns, after three disappointing first months at the OL Vallée complex.
La Salad’rit does not hide its concerns, after three disappointing first months at the OL Vallée complex. – Jérémy Laugier / 20 Minutes

Despite a delicate start to the season, and without a big poster at home (Brest and Clermont, then Strasbourg next Sunday at 8:45 p.m.), does such an adrenaline in all of OL Vallée accompany precisely each match of the band at Peter Bosz? “Yes, especially with a program like the match against Clermont (a Sunday at 1 pm), it’s ideal for us and our very family audience, says Jean-Michel Jullien of the Bowling des Lumières. We also had a very beautiful day that time. “

“If we don’t take another shot of bamboo …”

Referenced for twenty years in the Lyon region as a brasserie and bar-restaurant, the Ninkasi seems to be an essential crossing point near the Parc OL. “It is not at all sure that we are making the scores here that the Ninkasi de Gerland could achieve on a match night,” Olivier Milesi slips. But on these days, there is 40-50% overactivity compared to a typical day. »Between a local professional clientele at lunchtime and younger people in the evening, the Ninkasi has so far found its place in its new spot in East Lyonnais.

“From the opening, the activity was good, even if it is less crazy since July 20”, admits Olivier Milesi, who notes over these first three months that attendance is already higher than that of Ninkasi Sans-Souci (Lyon 8th), which he previously dealt with. Jaypee-Jaypar’s free concert (blues-folk), Saturday (9 p.m.) in his bar-restaurant, shows that the place is gradually establishing a cultural programming on the model of other Ninkasi. “If we do not take another blow with a forced closure in a month because of Covid-19, I am optimistic because all our figures are in line with our objectives,” he concludes.



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