In Liège, a finding is bitter. One in five businesses is closed, a “sad” situation according to all the witnesses interviewed.
To explain this situation, there are the Covid and the months of closure, complicated mobility due to the work of the tram and the shopping centers on the outskirts with their free parking lots.
“All the beautiful shops are leaving. There are only ugly businesses left “, regrets a resident of the city.
Another reason that would scare tourists away is mentioned by another witness. “There may be a bit of insecurity too unfortunately. There are a lot of drug addicts and a lot of beggars who are sometimes aggressive.”
The city authorities, they want to put this figure of 20% (one in five businesses) into perspective. “Out of 546 commercial cells, there are 912 which are empty, which makes 16% “, specifies the commercial alderman, Elisabeth Fraipont. “And if, out of the 912, we remove 267 which are active empty cells, that is to say which will be taken over or which are under construction, we fall to a figure of 11% “, she adds.
A very meager argument that struggles to bring back a smile to traders. “It’s important to hold on and stay active, you have to hold out for the time it takes to work on the tram and then things will get better “, encourages Marie Lambert, owner of a toy store.
10 years ago, only 2.8% of shops were empty in the hypercentre. A figure that has only grown over the years: 5.8% in 2016, 16.7% in 2019 and 20.9% today.