They promised “a festive program” for the Gare du Sud in Nice and “to become the best spot where people come to eat, drink and have fun”. On the site, it is even still written that “in 2021, we bring fun, in 2022, we transform”. There has been a transformation, but not the one expected. The former operator of the gourmet hall, the company Le Jardin Défendu, a subsidiary of the Parisian group Enchanté, is in compulsory liquidation, failing in its mission, which ultimately only lasted four months, from June to October 2021.
A period in which this company specializing in the animation of “food halls” will have tried everything by offering more than 70 events. Problem, she gave everything… Except to the providers in question. “I am the last artist to have been paid, two months late. And I played on July 30″, confides to 20 minutes, Emma, who was also employed as an assistant venue manager.
She “can no longer see” the Gare du Sud
The one who experienced the events from the inside remembers “the optimism of the Parisians when they arrived” and still can’t figure out how the budget “was burned in such a short time”. “The worst part is the lack of communication. Until the end, nobody knew anything while we realized that there was a problem. Gare du Sud was a bit like a Kinder: Every day we had a new surprise inside. Now, she “can’t see” this place anymore.
“It hurts me, it’s inhuman to do that. Since the announcement of the bankruptcy filing, we have had no news. Not even an apology. In addition, many have bet on this illusion given by the so-called kings of the event. They just came, screwed up the job and left. »
An association in debt
Among those who believed in it, big production, an association that organizes stand-up scenes. “I learned that the adventure was over the day after an evening when we had just had an event. I received an email which said that it was the last, summarizes Pascal Schiavone, president of the cultural association. And then, no more response until a letter at the beginning of January which told me that their company was in compulsory liquidation and that as a cultural service provider, I would be the last on the list to receive what Le Jardin Défendu owes me. »
Even if the operator had not paid Grosse Prod for “two months”, the enthusiast said to himself “that a company so well known in the industry could not come to this”. However, today, he is “crushed in debt” and is trying somehow to bring his project to life.
He develops: “I advanced costs to bring the artists. I let go of everything I had to focus on it, it was what paid off the most and it was a perfect set to make Nice a humorous scene. Now I’m starting from zero. In less than six months, we’ve lost everything. I recognize that it is also my fault, but how to refuse this kind of offer? “Before adding:” And again, I am not the one to whom they owe the most. One of the organizations that filled the gourmet hall with its events is expecting 16,000 euros. »
” No comment “
Neither the Jardin Défendu nor Urban Renaissance, to which the city of Nice has awarded a long lease for the operation of the place and which had entrusted the animation to the Parisian group, have “comment to make on this story”. “The judicial liquidation procedure being initiated”, the subsidiary of Enchanté argues that it “is no longer authorized to speak on this subject”.
The town hall, for its part, assured that there were potential buyers “prestigious, established in France and abroad and determined to relaunch the place » but in a “completely different” way. And it will be “before the end of the year”, she guarantees.