For Patrice Creus, the adventure lasted three years. It ended in judicial liquidation, pronounced in August. “I had made a war effort for this restaurant, made family sacrifices… Now that it’s over, I’m just relieved not to suffer anymore”, delivers the former boss of Comptoir, in Rennes, who will still have to pay off debts for the next nine years. In 2020, this salesman in the medical field decided to change his life and took over, after training, this large bistro located in an area where many companies and administrations are located. Grilled steak, tartare, Erquy scallops, starter-main course-dessert at 19 euros: the business, which was serving 180 seats per day, seemed solid.
“After the long closure due to Covid-19, when we reopened in June 2021, the customers had disappeared. Teleworking has changed everything », explains the forty-year-old. Since then, its turnover has been halved. Some days, “often on Tuesdays or Thursdays”, he refused people. Sometimes the room was deserted. No one came on Friday anymore. “For personnel management, it had become a disaster. »
Especially since its salary costs have increased significantly, in application of a sector agreement which entered into force in 2022 – an effort by the sector to revalorize a profession deserted by young people. To this has been added, over the past year, inflation on food products. “I sacrificed my margins because I could not pass on these increases in prices. The Ticket Restaurant clientele is too sensitive to this. In recent months, the equation no longer holds. »
“Everything was too unpredictable”
Like Le Comptoir, there are many restaurants which, at the end of the year, find themselves up against the wall. From January to October, insolvencies in the sector are up 52% compared to 2022, according to figures from the Banque de France, published Wednesday November 15. A form of catching up, after three years where their number had fallen significantly, in particular due to the aid provided during the pandemic. In total, 5,124 cafes or restaurants went through the commercial courts during the first nine months of 2023, according to figures compiled by Atometrics, a company specializing in data analysis; 9% more than in 2019, over the same period. The sector, however, continues to grow (the number of openings is greater than that of closures): in total, France has 136,000 restaurants, or 1.9% more than a year ago.
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