At 9 am sharp, this Good Friday, on Place de la Paix and Place de la Réunion, there are already people. Rules of distancing oblige, that gives strange scenes. Place de la Paix, the line formed naturally by following the contours of the place and forming a square, to arrive, at the end, at the Lutz-Biltzheim vegetable stand. Bertrand Lutz is overwhelmed. Customers are linked and you have to keep up. “We find people and this contact that we miss and then above all it saves our goods.” He commends the city’s initiative and support for producers in the covered canal market. Recall that the town hall, in connection with the Haut-Rhin Chamber of Agriculture, and in agreement with the Haut-Rhin prefect, allowed traders in the markets to sell their products , by proposing this initiative … but at the rate of one producer stand per day, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
–
If the producers found a breath of fresh air there, the customers found them smiling like Ludovic, a Sausheimois of 43 years. “I ordered a basket and I just came to get it. It took me ten minutes … not counting the trip. But it’s really a great initiative. ” Place de la Réunion is also an endless queue in front of the Zwingelstein butcher’s stand. But David Zwingelstein keeps pace: “We are a little overwhelmed … but what a pleasure to find our customers. We will come back here every Friday and Wednesday to meet the demand. Customers for these parties ask us for a lot of lamb but also more festive products. I hope other food businesses will follow this initiative. Small businesses must be brought to life while respecting health and safety rules. This week until Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., the Reymann farm was also selling its produce in the parking lot opposite the Hasenrain, but it was not present on Good Friday.
–
A cheese maker, chocolate makers and a bakery
Some brands have also opened their doors. This is the case, still on the Place de la Réunion, which recovers a bit of life, from the cheese maker Au Bouton d’or as well as the chocolate maker-designer Jacques Bockel. The master artisan-baker Eric Gebele, rue du Raisin, fills up and there are people outside the door. 50 meters away, the chocolate maker “Cabosse” also welcomes customers. As Stéphanie Dangelser explains, “this is madness. We have implemented a telephone ordering system. We explode to standard. We weren’t even able to respond to all requests. It’s frustrating for us and for the customers. With this crisis, we had to relearn a new profession with taking orders, delivering. But overall we keep our spirits we were able to save the Easter holidays and offer chocolate to customers. This is what we will remember from this difficult period. And then we find our regular customers but also a lot of new customers who come to support small businesses. There is solidarity and it is heart-warming ”.
We work even when it’s closed
Rue Henriette, “Au Village Italien” is exceptionally open to sell ready meals, pizzas, cold meats, cheese and wines. But on Monday, the metal shutter will remain closed. Further along, rue Guillaume-Tell, the hairdressing salon is closed, but inside we are busy. We are working to give the salon a facelift while waiting for the activity to resume. At the Café Piadina, passage de l’Hotel-de-Ville, there is serious concern: “We had to stop our expansion works. Companies are not allowed to work on their site. We are late. I hope that we will be ready for the opening ”… So even if this Friday was a holiday in Alsace, there was still a small shops activity in the city center. Enough to forget the time of some purchases that we are still in full containment.
Note that this Saturday, April 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Christlesgut farm (mountain, milk, cold meats) will be Place de la Paix. And normally the Reymann farm should sell its produce in the parking lot opposite the Hasenrain from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
–
