Kadija (people identified by name did not want to give their name) is not there that day, but she came to visit her colleagues. In the shopping gallery of the Auchan store in Croix-de-Neyrat, a working-class neighborhood in the north of Clermont-Ferrand, he laughs, chats with Christophe, a receptionist at the hypermarket, or even with Dabia Nicolas, elected CGT deputy. , who greet customers before returning to work. The environment is friendly. “It is the hallmark of this store”assures Christophe. “There are sellers who have been there for thirty years and the customers are loyal. “We all know each other”Dabia Nicolás supports.
If the team found some peace of mind, two days earlier, on November 5, they were stunned by the announcement that the store would close in six months, if no buyer came forward. “We have known for more than ten years that finances are not going well. But the roof and part of the tiles were recently renovated. “So we weren’t expecting that.”Kadija is moved.
The same goes for Dabia Nicolas, who is worried about the store’s nearly 200 employees. “Here there are couples working, single parents… It’s going to be hard. “Many have seniority and advantages you won’t find anywhere else.”he laments.
Built in 1972 under the Mammouth brand, the hypermarket, which came under the control of Auchan in 1997, enjoyed good years and led to the development of a shopping center, then a surrounding shopping area and various services. But the impoverishment of the neighborhood, the commercial problems, the lack of investment by Auchan to renovate the premises and develop commercial services, and then the installation of other hypermarkets in the surrounding area, ended the golden era of this local emblem that has lost. almost a third of its employees in fifteen years, according to Nicolas Deluzier, union representative of the CGT.
Fear of a domino effect
“The billing is correct. The problem is the premises, which are too big. “They could have worked and reduced the sales area instead of closing”the chosen one laments. “What we needed to build was a supermarket, not a hypermarket. Here it is basically a neighborhood store, with a small average basket”adds Dabia.
When the closure was announced, he saw customers crying. “Many are older people or people without a car, who come on foot or thanks to the tram that leaves them right in front. How are they going to do it? »asks Abdelhaq, a janitor at a building in the area. This is especially the case for Lydia, a retiree who lives three stations away. “My heart is heavy. I’ve always been coming here. Lidl is too far away and you can’t find everything. “I don’t know where I’m going to go.”explains. Neither did Jessica, 29, and Kevin, 46. “To get to the other stores you have to take many buses. And the products are too expensive. We like it here. It is the neighborhood meeting place. When we come, we have a drink in the gallery even though it is less lively than before”they say.
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