Closed since March 13, 2020, coronavirus obliges, the discotheques of France could not reopen their doors until the July 9, 2021. If they did not all find the light at the beginning of the summer near Toulouse, they have seen and experienced changes.

At the Downtown Factory, a different clientele

In the wake of Purple, Nimp ‘or even Ibar, the Downtown Factory reunited with its customers on July 9, 2021. Adrien Agullo, one of the founders of the enclosure with Philippe Belot, quickly noticed the parameters of the post covid era.

“Having been closed for almost two years, when we reopened, the 18-year-old who came was 16 at the time of closing. So he never came out in discotheque ”, he comments.

We realize that these new customers do not have the codes, the habits. It’s good and not good: they’re a little more disciplined, because it’s the first time they’ve come to a club and it scares them a little. But you have to explain everything to them …

Adrien Agullo notes all the same that the Downtown Factory has found “regulars who have returned: Those who were 18 when we closed, and who have 20 now. They always come ”.

But there is a significant number of customers who had not, until then, put a toe in the establishment. ” On a still 20-30% of brand new customers, who had never gone out to a nightclub… ”

“Habits have changed” at the Voile Blanche

The reopening took place a little earlier than expected at La Voile Blanche. The outer terrace of the enclosure allowed it to accommodate the first customers from June. The manager, Jean-Christophe Gonzalez, also noted a change.

According to him, ” customer habits have changed, there is much less rapprochement between people: they pay more attention ”.

Barrier gestures have started to be anchored in the mentality. Everyone, me first, washes their hands a lot more often. Before, we washed our hands 2-3 times a day. Now, as soon as there is a point with hydroalcoholic gel, we are towards that point, we want to disinfect our hands. We can see it both with our teams and with our customers.

Like Adrien Agullo at the Downtown Factory, Jean-Christophe Gonzalez also welcomed “ new blood. But we found the same faces as before, our regulars came back ”.

Paying change at the Étoile …

In other cases, it is the establishments that have been the same actors in this change. This is what happened on the side of the Star, Atlanta Boulevard. The year that followed the arrival of covid-19 was that of a total overhaul of the building.

Triple size, 100m² rooftop, restaurant, Lounge Bar: ” it’s an American-style club, very beautiful and bigger. It’s a complex today ”appreciates Sadek Krouk, the owner of the place. A change that pays off?

There was a period of doubt and hesitation. At first, it was hard with the health pass. But it’s been two or three weekends that it comes back, it starts to smell very good.

L’Etoile was also nominated, in mid-October, in the three most beautiful nightclubs in France, for the Night Trophies. “The space is good, neither too big nor too small” savors Sadek Krouk. “I am lucky to have the restaurant side. It brings customers faster, and sooner.”

… but more complicated at the Urban Lab

The Urban Lab was also a player in this upheaval. But the transformation has been much more radical: the former meeting place of all electro fans a totally messed up summer.

“I recreated something in relation to the pre-covid: I became a hybrid foodcourt, a winter tavern“, Says Coralie, an associate of Mathieu Collignon, owner of the premises. Customers can order inside and then have them delivered by the waiters in the establishment. Strategy paying off?

Our reopening did not go very well. It’s more due to communication. We are trying to straighten the bar a little. But the clientele that I had before did not meet with my new concept. I completely changed orientation …

Open since October 15, the Urban Lab new version will try to find a second wind with another launch party on November 19. “Above all, I have to make my place known. ”

This ignition delay, “it is not due to the covid,” repeats Coralie. ” There were errors in the communication of my establishment. ”

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