In Lille, the Nū Restaurant opens on June 9. – Renaud Wailliez
- The creators had to face certain delays
- Nū, the hype restaurant, was due to open in 2018
- All are impatiently waiting for a return to normal life
To say that the Nū Restaurant should have opened its doors in September 2018, in the middle of the Lille clearance sale. The kickoff will finally be given on June 9th. Almost three years later than expected! “We have accumulated delays, between the start of development work and the slowdown in the site due to the first containment. We were almost ready when the second wave arrived, ”says Maxime Schelstraete, creator of the long-awaited top-of-the-range rooftop in Lille.
The recruitments of 40 employees were then stopped, even if eight managers were able to be placed on short-time work. Problem: the solidarity fund is roughly accessible only to establishments that have recorded a turnover. “We didn’t perceive anything for a long time. We are only starting to receive a tiny bit of subsidies because we had organized private services between the two confinements, ”reveals Maxime Schelstraete.
Incompressible fixed charges without cash flow
Which is clearly not enough to cover all the fixed costs of this 800 m2 area. “It’s very complicated, you have to keep a cool head. Fortunately, our bank has postponed all of our loans and the rents have been postponed. The partners and the investment fund continue to support us because the deferral costs remain quite substantial ”.
With much lighter overhead costs, Arnaud Taisne had set his sights on the premises at 1, rue des Bouchers in Lille in March 2020. “I had been trying to settle down for a while, with only one concept. in delivery and to take away which does not exist elsewhere: Truffle & Baguette ”. Between the different stages and the postponements due to confinement, the entrepreneur did not finally have the keys until last January. “The owner made a gesture and I was able to open on May 1: we are clearly suffering from the lack of traffic, because of teleworking and the closing of shops. We look forward to the next few weeks to see the difference ”.
For the two Lille sisters Sarah and Coline Desreumaux, it was rather the Covid-19 crisis that allowed the project to start. “Coline was made redundant because of this health crisis and as we had been thinking about it for a few years, we decided to launch Graine de Toast, a zero waste food-truck that offers bread products in short circuits”, Sarah explains. “Our market research questionnaire worked very well because we put it online during the first confinement, when people had time to respond,” she continues. Even if the confinements may have dragged out some administrative procedures, the food-truck must be delivered for an activity start-up in early June.