A deputy mayor of Toulouse speaks out for the supervision of “dark stores” and “dark kitchens”
What future for “dark kitchens” and “dark stores”, those kitchens and supermarkets that only work with delivery? Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, Crafts and Tourism, and Olivier Klein, Minister Delegate for Cities and Housing, are continuing their consultation and will receive associations of elected officials and representatives of the Metropolises at the Ministry in charge of the City and Housing, Hôtel de Roquelaure in Paris.
This summer, the government has already made it known that it aims to better support the development dark stores and dark kitchens in France. Since the first confinement in March 2020, these establishments abound in the major cities of France. This is much less the case in Toulouse, which has two “dark kitchens” and two “dark stores” in the city center, according to the town hall, which is little compared to other large cities such as Paris or Bordeaux.
There is however nuisance, like at 32 avenue Honoré-Serre where the “black kitchen” Popafood has set up shop. Nuisances denounced by the neighborhood association and its president, Marie-Laure Ichanjou. However, the “dark kitchens” and the “dark stores” are making efforts, answers Simon Marco, manager of the Flink “dark stores” in the southwest, one of which is located in the Saint-Cyprien district of Toulouse. “We deliver with electric scooters, it is one of the main nuisances. Today, we have found a solution. And if there are other nuisances that emerge in the future, we will be the first to be listens and provides solutions.
Lawmakers expect solutions
The problem for elected officials is thatthey do not have the legal means to supervise the activity. Olivier Arsac is Deputy Mayor of Toulouse in charge of Trade. “One could not imagine in Toulouse that, on rue Alsace-Lorraine, there would be a ‘dark store’ or a ‘dark kitchen’. This is not its place. But if I want to keep clothing shops and ban “dark store”, in the current state of the legislation, I cannot because I cannot make this distinction. According to Olivier Arsac, it takes several months before a text comes into force.
But if the “darks” are pushed back from the city center, they will no longer be laudable and risk for some of them closing, warns Félix Fiorio, co-manager of Foudie, which has three brands, in Bordeaux, Montpellier and avenue Camille-Pujol in Toulouse. “We work on the volume of orders, in areas where there is a high population density. It is vital for our business. So, if they take us away, they will kill the delivery system. Then we had to look a little more at the pitches. There is a three kilometer delivery radius around the kitchens, so you can go a little further from the center. But you still have to be close enough.”
In the meantime, Flink announces that he remains in Toulouse. The “dark store” will move in the coming weeks from Saint-Cyprien to Matabiau to be ever closer to its customers located in the city center and in the surrounding residential areas.