On May 7, the Government  announced that all stores could reopen on May 11, provided that they guarantee the safety of employees and customers.

Are all stores really concerned? What are the measures to be applied for a reopening? fiskaltrust takes stock to help you apprehend the deconfinement serenely and thus restart your activity with a light heart.

All shops can open, except…

“All businesses will reopen except cafes, bars, restaurants” said the Minister of Economy, Bruno Lemaire, at the presentation of the deconfinement plan last Thursday.

So far there have been no surprises; this is indeed what Emmanuel Macron announced following his meeting on April 24 with professionals in the hotel and restaurant sector.

Nevertheless, Édouard Philippe specified on Thursday that a possible recovery would be reassessed at the end of the month.

A rumour was circulating about a possible reopening of bars and restaurants on June 15, but this was denied by Bruno Lemaire. The Minister of Economy indeed specified that “no date has been set” before adding that he was “perfectly aware that there is the tourist season ahead of us, so the sooner the better”. Thus, it is conceivable that this summer a reopening will be possible for cafés, bars and restaurants.

Some subtleties are added to the shops that can open… Thus shopping centres of more than 40,000 m² are allowed to reopen, with the agreement of the prefects. With the exception of shopping centres in the Ile de France region, for which, according to Bruno Lemaire “health risks lead us to postpone their opening”. So no shopping at Galeries Lafayette or Printemps for the moment.

All shops can open, if…

Businesses are allowed to open if they make every effort to prevent the spread of Covid19. Thus, the Government has specified that reopenings must be made on condition that “strict specifications are respected, limiting the number of people present in the shop at the same time and organising the flows”.

Edouard Philippe thus explained that for all shops :

  • Queues had to be organised in order to respect a minimum distance of one metre between customers.
  • Hydroalcoholic gel should be made available at the entrance to the stores or just before the checkout.

The Prime Minister also recalled that it remains essential to “multiply barrier gestures to reduce the circulation of the virus and its speed as much as possible”.

The Minister of Labour, Muriel Pénicaud, added that “trade or sectoral guides co-developed with professionals and submitted for consultation with the social partners” on the health measures to be applied in all shops “are available on the Ministry of Labour‘s website”.