The 2019 edition of the Braderie de Lille.

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M.Libert / 20 Minutes

  • The Braderie de Lille, canceled due to the health crisis, should have taken place this weekend of September 5 and 6.

  • If a clearance sale reserved for traders will be organized, it will not fill the shortfall of traders at worst.

  • Between the confinement and the cancellation of such a big event, the Lille trade is in crisis.

In the world before, the first weekend of September was eagerly awaited by Lille traders.

With the big Braderie to launch the new school year, most of them achieved in a weekend the turnover usually achieved in a month.

Except that the Covid has since been there.

Already canceled in 2016 due to a terrorist threat, the Braderie 2020 will not have withstood the health crisis.

To save face, a merchants' clearance sale is organized Saturday and Sunday in the city.

While nothing will be sold outside the shops, this initiative gives professionals a little balm.

“It is important for the economic activity of Lille trade.

In 2016, when the Braderie had already been canceled, it had already gone pretty well.

Even if it remains an icing on a very, very poor cake, ”recognizes Romuald Catoire, president of the Lille trade federation.

20 to 25% of bars and restaurants in Lille could close

Still, the morale of traders - who for the most part had to close their shops for two months during confinement - is at its lowest in this re-entry against a backdrop of Covid.

“The concern grows every day.

We all wonder how the economy will restart.

Many have taken out government guaranteed loans (PGEs) and they will have to be repaid.

Finally, the only question we ask ourselves this year is how much money we are going to lose ”, worries Romuald Catoire.

If the economic activity worked rather well in Lille in August, many sectors are in great suffering.

Bars, restaurants and hotels are among the most affected by the crisis: 20 to 25% of this type of establishment could simply close their doors in the coming months.

“Some traders have been able to postpone the payment of their charges and rents for a few months.

But it will eventually pay off.

It is from now that we will see how many people will stay on the side of the road.

If there is no inflow of money, some will not make it, ”says Gérard De Poorter, president of the Union des Métiers et des Industries de l'Hôtellerie (UMIH) Hauts- of France.

A very high risk end of the year

If we add to that the end of partial unemployment measures set for November 1, the end of the year promises to be high risk for traders.

The increase in positive cases and the possibility of placement in the red zone of the Lille metropolitan area also raise fears of the worst.

“We would not survive a new confinement.

It would be a social, economic and human catastrophe, ”admits Romuald Catoire.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, traders insist on respecting barrier gestures with the wearing of a compulsory mask and hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance to shops.

Binding but essential measures to help traders in this

annus horribilis

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Lille

Coronavirus: The Braderie de Lille, scheduled for September 5 and 6, 2020, is canceled

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Coronavirus in Lille: "Maintaining the clearance sale would risk creating a new cluster", estimates a scientist

  • 20 minutes video

  • Covid 19

  • Trade

  • Economy

  • Clearance sale

  • Lille