It's a small victory for the world of culture! Bookstores and record stores have officially joined the list of so-called essential businesses. They can then remain open on weekends in the event of confinement.
Since the first confinement, French bookstores have been fighting to be recognized as essential businesses. Last November, they were authorized to proceed with "click and collect ". They could not therefore receive from the public but only sell books reserved by their customers because they were not considered "essential". This had made a lot of noise and Bercy had finally asked the large distribution to close its book shelves to prevent unfair competition.
As the cities of Nice and Dunkirk begin their first weekend in confinement, a new decree published on Friday in Official newspaper class now bookstores as well as record stores in the category of so-called essential businesses. Thus, they will be able to remain open on weekends from 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the event of confinement.
If for the moment only Nice and Dunkirk are affected by this new containment implemented over the weekend, twenty departments covering in particular the cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille are under surveillance and could experience similar restrictions while the Covid epidemic- 19 starts again.
The Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, welcomed the government's decision. "Bookstores are essential businesses. There was never any doubt. During the second confinement, the possibility of click-and-go and the free shipping costs of books offered to booksellers made it possible to maintain their activity ", she indicated to AFP.
According to Anne Martelle, president of the Syndicat de la librairie française and director of bookstore, this decision was necessary because "Economically, the bookstore is the least profitable business in France. Therefore, it is an extremely fragile business and the slightest disturbance can lead to bankruptcy." "In bookstores, you have access to knowledge, you have access to knowledge. You have access to adventure. You have access to books, to authors that we do not necessarily talk about every day, but that bookstores make discover. and which will not necessarily be sold on internet platforms. Because, precisely, the bookseller is not there to talk about it.", she concluded delighted with this new decree.