“The Point” gives the word to bosses, employees, artisans… who work in the sectors most affected by the crisis of the Covid-19. Will they be able to overcome it ? Will they need to change lane, launching a new career ? The France of 2020 will experience a profound transformation.
Read also Our advice to businesses through the crisis
Valerie Maurepas ” I opened my restaurant, the Bloom, by September 2017, in Malakoff, a paris suburb. I propose to takeaways and meals served in the dining room every lunchtime, 7 days on 7. I employ an employee, the cook, and I take care of all the rest : the orders, the service, I also do a bit of cooking, etc
Very soon after the opening of my establishment, I have experienced the crisis of the yellow Vests, and then strikes the transport. It has been terrible. The restaurant is located at the end of the line 13 of the paris metro, on a line that has been cut off for several weeks. My activity has dropped 25 % at least. 2019 has really been a dark year. And then, lo and behold, the crisis of the coronavirus arrived. Last march 15, we announced the closure of all restaurants for the next day… The Sunday, march 16, so I put the key under the door and gave all of my food stocks, which represents to me a loss of few hundred euros.
I am not entitled to anything since I’m the manager of the restaurant
I also requested that my cook enjoys the part-time unemployment, which was very fast and easy to obtain. On the other hand, me, I am not entitled to anything since I’m the manager of the restaurant. I therefore sought the assistance of the State of 1 500 euros, that my company was hit in march, April and may. The problem is that this help is not valid in conjunction with any other. I could also benefit from the device of support of a child under 16 years of age, but the help was less interesting. I regret, however, that the insurers and banks do not support us most effectively, we, the entrepreneurs and bosses. They are supposed to encourage us and support us in taking risks, but in reality they do not.
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The banks have finally helped those who had the least need, because it was less risky for them. I asked for 10 000 euros through the loan guaranteed by the State (PGE) to my bank, to have a bit of cash in the prospect of the reopening… but she refused on the grounds that it would not have been granted in a normal period ! Still, I have no debt. The re-opening of the terraces ? In Paris, two-thirds of the restaurants have small rooms, they are located in the narrow streets, the distancing will not be able to do, and many restaurants wouldn’t get away.
the hall of The Bloom anyway, with the minimum distance of one meter between each table, my economic model no longer holds. It works with 26 covered, not with 10 or 15. So, I prefer that my restaurant is closed and that I can continue to receive the monthly benefit of 1 500 eur. I hope we will be able to reopen normally in the fall, in September. But I still put the restaurant up for sale. The shops the more solid will be, without a doubt, the other will close. I will need to look at a possible conversion. “
The Bloom in Malakoff, 37 Rue Gabriel Shouted, 92240
Consult our folder : How to be successful with his conversion
writing will advise you
what will look like the terraces of the cafés of Paris on 2 June ?
