“An economic and ethical bias”: in Alès, these shops which refuse to get in step with the winter sales

Valérie Siksik, tenancière de GARD’robe parle d’économie mais aussi de question d’éthique. Midi Libre – LUCAS MASSOT

From January 8th to February 4th, many Alès merchants are having sales. But for others, the choice is made not to participate in this discount period.

While the sales will continue until February 4th, some shops in the Bassin have decided to ignore the discount periods. Between “tight prices”, fair remuneration of creators, and “prices already more than attractive”, these merchants justify their choices.

“Sale is like giving money to someone to encourage them to buy a product”

Like others, the boutique GARD’robe is one of those stores that have decided not to follow the sales period. Valérie Siksik, who founded the association that owns the shop, explains that “here, we don't have sales firstly because we are a designer shop“. The store brings together 23 designers, mainly from Gard but not only.

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“Everything is handmade, it's a unique piece. We are already very reasonable on our sales prices“, explains the seamstress. Given that these are often unique pieces, the owner adds that it is “already hard” to raise their prices. Already “tight“, these prices correspond to hours of work. “We are all also aware of people's wallets“, especially since it is also a question of ethics, she explains.

“For us, selling off means selling below our price. It’s like giving money to someone to buy our product.” The designer also explains that the designers of GARD’robe are already struggling to exceed the minimum wage per hour, so it’s as much an economic issue as an ethical one. With a big laugh, she finally points out that sales are not mandatory.

Preferring biannual clearance sales to sales

The same story goes for the thrift store Seconde Vie, located on the Grand-Rue. Hélène, who is a saleswoman there, explains this choice. The company Seconde Vie prefers clearance sales to sales, which she does twice a year: “For us, there are two seasons, spring-summer and fall-winter.” Between each of these seasons, there is a three-day clearance sale. “On Thursday and Friday, everything in the store is 50% off. On Saturday, it's 70% off.“

She points to the small box on the counter: “Customers leave their contact information there so that we can add them to the customer file. They are informed the day before the clearance sale.” The saleswoman specifies, however, that the dates are never communicated in advance, because “the rule is not to tell the customer anything before the day“. According to Hélène, “it's the game! We are a thrift store with prices that are already more than attractive“.

The saleswoman adds that “warning customers two weeks before the clearance sale could dissuade them from coming before. And then, the loss of earnings…” The idea is therefore to make a different commercial gesture. Before doing the clearance sale, the saleswomen “stuff” the store, to the point that the shelves are overflowing. It is a question of not “giving away crumbs, unsold items. But rather of giving a wide choice“, she explains again.

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