Toulouse: this Wednesday, the start of the sales!
Although discounts have already started in many stores with private sales but also online, winter sales begin on Wednesday. A period still eagerly awaited by traders but which this year to be disrupted by the Omicron variant.
After a euphoric end to the year, when the shops filled up with customers, this month of January promises to be more tense. “People have their minds less to consume with the Omicron variant and the disturbances in schools which force them to have their children tested every three days”, recognizes Benoît Ramus, member of the Toulouse trade federation.
For this professional, the sales no longer have too much meaning, “with the masquerade of large groups” which cut prices well in advance. This did not send him to his own store to prepare promotions that will only take place from tomorrow. “For me, the sales are going to be a timeless moment, we will return to a small consumption bubble like the end of December, but it will only last until Saturday evening. Afterwards, we will work less, ”fears the seller. Added to this is the fact that the covid has changed the inventory management of small independent traders. “We operate more on a just-in-time basis and therefore, we will have fewer products to offer for the sales”. Compared to last year, traders approached this period with “much more serenity, thanks to vaccination in particular, because we know that the end of the tunnel is approaching”, concludes Benoît Ramus.