Paris, Lyon and the big cities are attacking the “dark stores” which proliferate in France
Faced with the explosion of fast-paced retail start-ups over the past year, some large cities are trying to limit their expansion to protect their downtown areas.
The municipalities want to whistle the end of recess. Paris, Lyon but also Rouen are attacking the “dark stores” which have been proliferating for some time only in the big cities of France.
Launched at the end of 2020 in France, home shopping delivery services in less than a quarter of an hour have developed at breakneck speed in recent months. A development that some cities want to limit because they believe it would be a source of nuisance.
Taking advantage of a certain legal vagueness, “quick commerce” companies such as the German Gorillas, the French Cajoo or the Turkish Getir have multiplied the openings of “dark stores”, these former commercial premises converted into mini-warehouses city that serves as a departure base for the hundreds of delivery people from these platforms. The city of Paris alone has 70 “dark stores” for more than a hundred at the national level.
It is the town hall of Lyon for the moment less adapted than the capital which first banged its fist on the table. During a municipal council held in December, the city’s trade assistant assured that Lyon would oppose the establishment of dark stores.
“We don’t want a society where everything is dark, where everything is quick, said Camille Augey. We don’t want a warehouse city, without windows where everyone stays at home, without conviviality, without any pretext to meet the other.”
According to the districts, the municipality refuses the establishment of these warehouses based on the local urban plan which prohibits in certain zones (UC) the establishment of logistics sites.
+86% over one year
In Rouen, the town hall recently announced that it would pre-empt businesses likely to become “dark kitchens”, the equivalent of dark stores for the delivery of meals, in order to “preserve our city center”, warned Sileymane Sow , the deputy for trade and economics.
No ban in principle in Paris but the municipality of the capital does not intend to stand idly by in the face of the explosion of this activity which generated 122 million euros in sales in 2021 (+ 86%).
“We are not here to ban this new mode of consumption, indicates in The Parisian Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy of the City of Paris. But he questions society about all the nuisances this has caused and the threat it poses to our small neighborhood businesses, which we all care about, insists Emmanuel Grégoire. This is one more phenomenon to which traditional businesses will have to adapt.”
The elected official who will bring together the 10 biggest players in this market in March ensures that the City has started to attack the players in this market by multiplying the minutes. A dozen minutes would have been sent to start-ups that did not submit a prior declaration of change of destination of the premises in which they installed their dark stores.
The elected representative of the capital recalls that the law of December 27, 2019 on the extension of the police powers of the mayor “allows us to seize the judicial court and to request a fine per day of penalty. This can go up to 500 euros per day and up to 25,000 euros per warehouse.”
The city of Paris would like these warehouses not to overlook the street and to be primarily in the basement or on the courtyard. The players in the sector are currently open to discussion.
“There is a step to take towards each other, assures Henri Capoul, the founder of the French Cajoo in Les Echos. We have barely a year of existence, we are not pirates. build our model. But we have to think about adapting our premises, for example doing click and collect.”
An anti-dark blinds law?
While fast-food players admit that their activity may be the source of nuisance for local residents, they refute, on the other hand, the fears of devitalization of neighborhoods that this activity would cause.
Market leaders Cajoo and Gorillas claim to work with a large number of local businesses and artisans, particularly in the bakery. The German Gorillas even ensures that 30% of its inventory comes from local brewers, market gardeners, bakers and other roasters.
Local elected officials are in any case demanding that they have adequate legal weapons to oppose the establishment of dark stores and dark kitchens.
“We asked the government that the municipalities have a more formal right to regulate, assures Emmanuel Grégoire in Le Parisien. We want to have a regulatory power allowing the installation of dark stores to be conditional on a certain number of criteria.