The summer sales are due to start on June 23. – ROMAIN DOUCELIN / SIPA
The summer sales are due to start on June 23. A boon for some traders, a problem for others who demand that the balances be shifted this year. As the constraints are different depending on the region, the government is considering the possibility of doing so by introducing territorial differentiation. “It is a subject which is under study”, announced the Prime Minister Jean Castex Thursday in Blois, where a good number of traders having just reopened this Wednesday, do not wish immediately to lower their prices.
“We must take into account the fact that we are moving more and more towards differentiated solutions, adapted solutions and not the same thing for everyone”, replied the head of government, on the occasion of a trip in the Loir-et-Cher for the reopening of shops. “We are going to work on it and after this phase of consultation take on the responsibilities incumbent on us”, added the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister for SMEs Alain Griset.
The holiday period: a key factor
Currently, the period is scheduled from June 23 to July 20. But a trader he visited pointed out to him that the sales on June 23 were scheduled much too early in Blois and asked him to put them back. “We see that what is desired here in Blois is not necessarily the same solutions that are called for elsewhere,” replied Jean Castex.
In the summer of 2020, the sales had been postponed to early July instead of mid-June. This had particularly harmed Parisian businesses, because the capital had in the meantime emptied of many inhabitants who had gone on vacation, while the few international tourists had not compensated. Conversely, the period had been more favorable for businesses located in regions popular with French holidaymakers.
Stocks remaining from the last three seasons
The issue of sales is all the more burning as many businesses have on their hands the stocks remaining from the last three seasons, jostled by administrative closures to stem the Covid-19 epidemic. In this context, traders fear an increase in promotional or private sales operations to liquidate stocks, even before the start of the sales period.
The entourage of Alain Griset had promised a decision before the end of May, after consultation with “federations of traders and consumer associations”.