- The very touristy rue Mercière (Lyon 2e) comes alive again this Friday. The countdown is indeed launched for many restaurateurs, before the possible opening of their establishment from June 2.
- Relieved to return to work, several managers confided to “20 Minutes” their concern about their reduced capacity and the absence of tourists.
Accompanied in the distance by a playlist blooming in the summer, between Blur, Queen and Creedence Clearwater Revival, the many restaurateurs of the very touristy rue Mercière partially found a smile this Friday morning. In the aftermath of the declarations of Edouard Philippe activating their possible reopening from June 2, the merchants of the emblematic tourist street of Lyon are active in this direction.
Cleaning, work to be finalized for some, reconfiguration of the interiors and installation of the terraces in order to take account of the meter of distance imposed between the tables, as well as total restocking of stocks, the program of the day is necessarily loaded. "Since last night, I have been calling all my suppliers and it looks complicated to have what it takes to open on Tuesday noon because of this weekend followed by a holiday," sighs Alexi Geagea, manager from the workshop counter.
"Are people going to rush out on terraces or will they be afraid?" "
If Maxime Chazal, who directs La Route des Pâtes, still regrets the timing of the express closure of restaurants on March 14, which forced him to “throw more than 5,000 euros in goods”, he blew when he discovered the announcements of the Prime Minister Thursday. "We feared much stricter health regulations such as wearing gloves in the kitchen," admits this manager, who will immediately call on his nine employees, "but not 100%", in order to prepare fresh pasta again Monday and reopen Tuesday noon. "You have to be careful not to throw yourself into the void," he warns. Let us adapt in the coming weeks because we have absolutely no vision of what can happen. Will people rush into terraces after all this confinement or will they be afraid? "
A feeling shared by Pascale Manoa, who will reopen her Le Mercière cap on Thursday June 4: “This leap into the unknown is very scary. We know very well that there will be no tourists, and between all the people in teleworking, the apprehension of customers, and our capacity reduced by half with the distance, we are forced to leave five employees on ten unemployed ".
"Each service will be a lottery"
Maxime Chazal does not let go of his meter this Friday in order to best configure his establishment: “We already know how to do Grouse in normal times and this new management will not change us that much. I will not have to halve the number of possible covers as I feared ”. Rather, it projects a loss of 25% of customers due to the rules imposed by the government.
Alexi Geagea has also thought about the summer layout of his terrace, which could normally accommodate 20 customers. “Each service will be a lottery because if I only have couples, I will be limited to eight people, against 16 if I am lucky enough to have four groups of four. It makes quite a difference, but I'm obviously not going to consider refusing a couple. He regrets "the government's vagueness" around the possibility, or not, of installing Plexiglas plates between the tables in order to optimize its attendance.
"-60% turnover in the coming months"
He plans to resume his activity with a reduced menu of three starters and three dishes (against ten and ten in normal times) and only five employees out of seven to return. "I leave myself until the end of next week to decide if I can go back to a normal configuration," he said. This "normal life" already seems far to believe Olivier Bret, who is thinking of "three years of trouble" with his Eden Rock Café.
This bar-restaurant welcoming a hundred customers before the Covid-19 each evening should experience "a -60% turnover in the coming months". "Not benefiting from state aid, I had to make a loan of 100,000 euros at the start of the health crisis and I have already spent 52,000 euros," sighs this manager in post in rue Mercière since 23 years.
"Customers will need to be reassured"
No more concerts scheduled for the moment or customers consuming standing drinks, the grounds for hope are therefore currently slim for the Eden Rock Café. Olivier Bret has tried to renew his activity in recent weeks by offering takeaway meals. “At the accounting level, it was not worth it because we did not even get a tenth of our usual figure. But going back to work has done a lot of good for the heads. "
Delighted to have benefited from a free terrace from the city of Lyon (1,200 euros in normal times concerning it) and two months of rent offered by its lessor, Maxime Chazal approaches this uncertain recovery with optimism: “This an exhausting period accentuated our desire to have a good time with customers. They will need to be reassured and maybe we will go so far as to draw a smile on our mask to welcome them. "
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