Margaux Fodéré / Photo credits: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 6:44 a.m., April 5, 2024

Only three months until the Paris Olympic Games and the time has come for retailers to finalize their organization for the competition. Hundreds of them will find themselves in the red zone in Paris, with limitations or even bans on movement. They must adapt and deal with what could sometimes seem like a headache.

The “Chez Meunier” bakery, at the Métro Crimée stop in the north of Paris, is one of the busiest in the area with nearly 1,200 customers daily, but also several deliveries of flour or drinks every day. So to avoid delays during the Olympic Games, products will be shipped less often, but in larger quantities.

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The key word: adaptation

“We are going to adapt our logistics by going from four to two receptions of goods in the bakery. We especially want there to be no shortage,” explains Gad Berdugo, deputy general director of the Meunier group, which has around twenty bakeries in Paris.

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But not all Parisian businesses have yet found the miracle solution. Alain Fontaine is at the head of the restaurant Le Mesturet, a bistro in the Opera district, in the heart of the capital. His dishes are homemade. No freezer on site so it is impossible to store food.

A benefit not to be missed

“We already know that there will be issues on deliveries. That also means managing the front-of-house staff to explain in three or four languages ​​that we miss it,” explains the restaurateur. He has developed a very careful plan for the organization of the teams: no holidays during the Games, but also recruitment of seasonal contracts to lend a hand during the period because he knows well that the Games are worth the effort.

“Compared to normal July and August, I think we will have a turnover between 20 and 25% more. We have to be precise and meticulous,” he emphasizes. For Gad Berdugo and his bakeries, the stakes are also high: in the most touristy places in the capital, he expects a 15% increase in turnover per store compared to a typical summer.