Laurent Bouger de Koffee & Kitchen : “Depuis les travaux, notre chiffre d’affaires n’a de cesse de baisser.” Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO
Les travaux d’aménagement de la place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance pénalisent fortement les commerces. Laurent Bouger, le gérant de Koffee & Kitchen craint même la fermeture définitive.
The place is cozy, the pastries and savory dishes are appetizing, and the upstairs room is perfect for lunch or working with a good coffee or tea. But this tranquility has only been apparent since the second phase of the development work on Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance was launched in mid-October.
Between the jackhammers and the fences all around the square, “we no longer understand the direction of traffic, or the entrance or exit to the parking lot. Even the pedestrian crossing is complicated“, complains Laurent Bouger, manager of Koffee & Kitchen, the coffee shop on Rue Foch in Montpellier, which opened its doors in 2013.
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With the end-of-year holidays approaching, local shopkeepers had tried to approach Montpellier city hall to have the major works postponed until January. Their petition went unheeded. The jackhammers started up again in mid-October, making “the noise level unbearable for both us and our customers“, the manager explains.
The result was not long in coming: in November, turnover fell by 40%, the following month, usually the best of the year, fell by 50%. “I'm not the only one to have losses. Even the businesses on Rue Foch that have not yet been affected by the work are recording losses. As far as we are concerned directly, we had a family clientele that no longer comes, because it is too complicated for them to come to us. The one that continues to come a little is our student clientele“, explains Laurent Bouger.
“This work is the final blow”
But that's not enough to cushion the impact of the work. “After the Yellow Vests, Covid, and all the demonstrations taking place on this square, this work is the final blow for our businesses because, after all these past events, we have never recovered the level of turnover we were making before“, the shopkeeper explains.
Not to mention the energy bill that is finally weighing down the accounts. In order not to close down immediately, the shopkeeper had no choice but to make two redundancies. The team now has 4 instead of 6 people.
Will that be enough to get through the ? Laurent Bouger has doubts. “I don't know if I'll hold out for long. Especially since the work is far from finished. It will last until next November. Then, all the sidewalks in front of our shops still need to be demolished, and they will be replaced with paving stones. Needless to say, the situation can only get worse for us because, to get to our coffee shop, we're going to have to make a big detour“, worries the shopkeeper.
No compensation
Neither he nor the other shopkeepers have received any compensation from the town hall, because the work is considered to be beautification work. No compensation is therefore provided in this case. “We were told that when the work was finished, this place would become location number 1, except that I'm not sure I'll still be here to see it“, confides Laurent Move.
Before concluding, on a bitter note: “During this whole period, with the ups and downs that we have known, I had learned the word resilience. It is no longer part of my vocabulary.”
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