In the halls of Nîmes, attendance side, nothing to do with the first confinement. Even if attendance has decreased a bit.
It is still there every morning, before dawn and the arrival of customers. From 6 am, Yvan Nestorovitch serves coffee to the traders who are preparing the opening. “If I did not come, they would have nothing: I continue to serve my stalls as I have been doing for over 40 years”, launches the one who succeeded his father in 1975 at the head of the Buvette des Halles.
But after the tour of little blacks to comfort the professionals, curtain: like all the other counters in the city, this one is closed. “I do not see this situation very well, recognizes the big fellow, who has placed his two employees on partial unemployment. Especially since finances are starting to run out and we are still waiting for these famous announced aids, if they ever come… “
All the more so as annoying that, this Saturday morning, the “belly of the city” overflows: it is the affluence of the great mornings. At a time when the importance of consuming local is hammered home, will the markets stand out? “The customers are there, for my part, it’s even better than usual, rejoices the first of Soleil d’or Éric Garin, behind pretty ceps from the Landes. I hope it will continue…”
“We took our marks”
“This Saturday morning, it’s true, it’s fine, but since the re-containment, attendance has nevertheless decreased, tempers Vincent Vergne, president of the stalls. I would say that we are experiencing a drop in activity of around 15% for all the halls. “
Even if almost all traders still offer delivery (see opposite), the initiative is less successful than during the first containment. “People are coming, they need to go out, analyzes the cheese maker Sylvain Cregut, who estimates his drop in turnover at almost 10%. After a messy start, things are going well: everyone wears the mask well, the customers are disciplined. The elderly tend to come during the week, when there are fewer people… We have all made our mark. “
Home deliveries: it continues
The initiative materialized at the end of the first confinement, it has remained active since. On the web (via the ID-halles.fr site), a “market place” offers the possibility of ordering from eleven stalls (a figure that will grow; the Vergne or Bosc “locomotives” are already participating) and to pay directly and in a single online payment to be delivered within 24 hours at home (free of charge in Nîmes, for € 5 in the agglomeration). Otherwise, most traders also offer an ordering and delivery service, by phone, email or SMS depending on their organization. Information to be gleaned from the official Les Halles de Nîmes Facebook page or directly from your favorite stall.
–
–
