Sanitary pass: a major challenge for shopping centers
Despite the absence of a large part of the tourists and the calm of the boulevard Haussmann in this month of August, a queue has formed in front of the flagship of the Galeries Lafayette, in Paris. The famous department store has been controlling the health passes of its customers since Monday, under the directives of the prefecture - which had not yet published its decree.
See also Shopping centers satisfied with escaping the systematic health pass
Like the Galeries Lafayette, the first shopping centers had to resolve to control their customers. If the law establishing the health pass spared shopping centers, it authorized the prefects to provide exceptions for the largest of them. As of Sunday evening, several prefectures published the first orders forcing certain centers to require the pass. This is the case in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where the epidemic situation is worrying. Three centers will have to get involved. The prefect of Loire-Atlantique has for his part targeted six, mainly shopping malls housing Leclerc hypermarkets. In Paris, finally, the police headquarters had to target, in addition to the Galeries Lafayette, the Italy 2 or Beaugrenelle shopping center, while the Forum des Halles and the 4 Temps at La Défense had to be spared because they house metro exits.
The decree published this weekend did not finally give professionals the seven days of adaptation they were claiming. “However, we have to anticipate a minimum, explains Gontran Thuring, the general delegate of the National Center for Shopping Centers (CNCC). Security officers are not found overnight. The flows of a shopping center are not those of a nightclub or a restaurant: in some cases we have to control 20,000 to 30,000 people a day.
Nhood, the Auchan property company, refined its system last week, applied Monday morning in three of its centers. Each time, two people per entrance are responsible for checking the sanitary passes. The Aushopping center in Avignon, which has been controlling the health pass since yesterday, has six entries, for example. A flying patrol of two security guards also ensures the smooth running of checks, in case customers are dissatisfied or recalcitrant. Nhood's security providers are currently recruiting with a vengeance to meet the demand.
SEE ALSO - Sanitary pass in shopping centers: Bruno Le Maire calls on the prefects to be discerning
A dreaded drop in attendance
The recruitment of living forces is not the only difficulty to overcome. From August 30, all employees of the shopping centers concerned must be vaccinated. "This still leaves us time, but the situation may occasionally be difficult in stores that have only one or two employees," said Emmanuel Le Roch, the general delegate of the Procos federation.
Read also Shopping centers: imbroglio around the sanitary pass
The few shopping centers and stores currently concerned fear above all a sharp drop in their attendance, while unvaccinated customers will be able to go shopping elsewhere. The CNCC and Procos have already asked the government to “specify the terms of its commitment to compensate the players in the sector for the losses they will suffer”.
- Prev
- Next
