“It's going to be eventful”: sales in Alès, first experiences for some, last chances for others

Ce seront les premières soldes d’hiver pour Maja, de la boutique I.Code. Midi Libre – LUCAS MASSOT

Du mercredi 8 janvier au mardi 4 février, les indémodables soldes reviennent dans les boutiques du Bassin.

After the New Year, it's the sales period that returns to the streets of the Bassin. From Wednesday, January 8 to Tuesday, February 4, new and old merchants are preparing to welcome customers. First year of sales for some, and perhaps the last for others, who are struggling to find customers again after the Covid period.

“We know it's going to be quite hectic”

Rue d'Avéjan, the boutique I.Code, specializing in women's clothing, is not new to Alès. On the other hand, these will be Maja Pijalowska's first winter sales because “before I didn't work“, the saleswoman smiles. Small pastilles, discount cards, everything is already ready.

“We put the clothes in pairs so that there are already enough in the store.” This avoids having to go to the back room. Maja admits that she doesn't really know what to expect but thinks that it won't change much from usual. “I already have a little experience with Breakup Days and Privilege Days. So I know how sale days work.” She labels a large cashmere sweater. “OI know it's going to be pretty hectic“, the young woman finally confides.

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Report sale clothes with colored dots

Karine (left) and Audrey (right) are preparing the sales at Sergent Major. Midi Libre – LUCAS MASSOT

A few meters further, still on rue d’Avéjan, is the children's ready-to-wear store Sergent Major. Audrey Tournaire is already hard at work preparing the discounts. “At the time of the sales, we always do previews, which end on the evening of the 7th. And the next day we do it again“, she explains. These previews are used to “set rates” using colored labels, to anticipate possible discounts. Then “we prepare our “merch”, we put everything in laminated“, that is to say that she places the clothes on hangers aligned on the shelves.

Then, everything is reported by size. “Three, four, five and up to eleven years“, she explains. Once the first markdown rates have arrived from the brand's headquarters, Audrey then prepares special labels displaying the sale rates, the famous 30 to 50%. “For example, if this item of clothing has a pink dot, it is 40% off. As well, tomorrow it's going to go to 50%“, she said. Not to mention “we have the new collection coming in at the same time“.

Having sales to avoid “the catastrophe”

And then for others, the sales are less joyful. They are even the last chance to keep the store going. This is the case for Marie-Anne La Monica who runs the eponymous boutique on rue Edgar-Quinet. In the sale of men's and women's clothing, the shopkeeper hopes that the sales will mainly serve to “rebuild my cash flow“. She admits that since the Covid period, the drop in traffic is more than observable, it is lasting, a “catastrophe“.

Marie-Anne plans to discount all her items by up to 30%, she who confides that she does not “sell them very expensively at the base“. She mentions the Benoit store, closed after compulsory liquidation last year: “I thought we were going to close before them.” Despite the Christmas village right across from her house in December, “I didn't make any money“. She hopes to make up for it by 2025, but anticipates a potential destocking with an association: “we'll try to hold on“, she says with a weak smile.

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