France: businesses reopened in a climate of freedom and fear

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In France, it was the first day of deconfinement this Monday, May 11. The French are again allowed to go out without exception, the authorized stores have reopened. One sector has witnessed a rush: that of hairdressing.

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After two months without a haircut, many shaggy customers pushed the door of the salons. At this hairdresser located in the Saint-Lazare train station district in Paris, the phone keeps ringing for appointments.

Gilles Martel, the manager of the show, had indicated on his window a few days ago the date of reopening. He said that there was no need to make an appointment, but many customers preferred to take their precaution.

"  It's overloaded. There is essentially a clientele of men. Two months is getting long,  ”he says. " It's still annoying ...  " says a young man. This client was one of the first to call for the opening of the salon “ to feel better and move on from confinement.  " " I put myself in the mirror and I cut which exceeded except behind  , "he added.

For his hairdresser, it is therefore time for recovery. "  I hope I'm not going to cut my fingers since it's been two months since I cut my hair," he laughs. I have been cutting hair for 30 years, but it is the first time that I have stayed that way without doing anything. "

If this client was anxious to have a cut, the salon team was in a hurry to return to work after this forced stop. “  A company that closes two months is still a long time  , comments one of the hairdressers. Morally, financially, and then in addition to reopen under the same conditions ...  "

“  Obligatory mask for styling and hand washing, specifies the owner. In all tablets you have a disinfectant . "

New habits to take, not always obvious, especially when you wear glasses, which are easily filled with mist with a mask.

► Read also: Coronavirus: France begins its deconfinement

Bookstores reopen, but weakened

With an estimated weight of 4.5 billion euros, the book sector is the leading cultural industry in France, ahead of music and cinema. The confinement made the whole chain of books suffer, especially the booksellers. The 3,200 independent bookstores, however, received state aid. Not sure for the smallest that this is enough.

On the Boulevard de Port-Royal, in Paris, Line Teboul folds the iron curtain of its bookstore for the first time in two months. "  It is beautiful the noise of a bookstore that opens,  " she rejoices.

For two months, she was unable to sell any books, but she had to continue paying her expenses, including the rent. Fortunately, the State paid him aid of 1,500 euros per month. "  It was unlocked fairly quickly. And there was the possibility of making a loan guaranteed by the state.  "

The good surprise came from publishers and distributors who immediately pushed back the deadlines. “  We have nothing to pay for now until June-July. We'll see. ", She adds.

But the future is not rosy. David Cazals runs the Librairie Henri IV on the boulevard of the same name. For him, the risk is to lose friendliness with customers because of the barrier measures.

"  The bookstore is a business of contact, so if we are forced to put on masks, if people distrust each other, it is possible that it would do us a lot of harm and that we leave our skin. In particular, there is an essential point in our profession  : these are bookstore meetings. For the moment, this is unthinkable. Meetings, salons ... there are a lot of bookstores that make a significant turnover in salons. And all that effectively, we will be lacking. "

France still has more than 3,000 independent bookshops. They fear today that the coronavirus will weaken them in the face of Amazon-type mail order.

The almost empty Champs-Élysées

On the Champs-Elysées where large chains of clothing stores, in particular, reopened their doors, customers were rare. It must also be said that the cold and humid weather did not invite you to shop.

Car traffic is clearly more dense than in recent days, but not many pedestrians on the wide sidewalks of the most beautiful avenue in the world.

Farouk and his colleague work in the neighborhood. They took advantage of their lunch break to see the effects of the deconfinement. They are rather surprised. Nothing to do with a return to normal. "  It's empty, we usually jostle, while there, it's free,  " says the young man.

Behind them, a large clothing brand with writing on the window, "Glad to see you again", but inside, the sellers outnumber the customers.

Farouk and his colleague are preparing to enter, but not for the same reasons. "  To pass the time, we will say and then to find contact with people too, perhaps." "Admits Farouk. "  I missed it," adds her colleague. Buy little clothes, everyday things for my children, in fact. I can renew their little wardrobe. "

A young couple comes out empty-handed from this store. It had been two months since he had left their suburbs. He did not mean to rob the shops.

"  Shopping is an alibi, it's just the freedom side after two months of confinement that makes you happy, especially on this avenue," explains the man. And then after we go home. It is true that in transport we feel that it is worrying nonetheless. We feel that people are still a little afraid and they may be right elsewhere. "

It is therefore a mixture of freedom and fear that invaded the capital at the start of this week.

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