2024-01-06 16:30:00
Rue Marie-Christine, 20%, 30% and 50% posters are rare the day following the sales kick off. In this street which constitutes the economic heart of Laeken, the mines are rather gloomy.
“Rue Marie-Christine has become a disaster,” sighs Ali Bounja, manager of a store specializing in the Jack & Jones brand and representative of the traders. “I have been here for 25 years. I knew the good times of Marie-Christine,” he says. “Before, sales were something here. People came from Vilvoorde, from Wemmel, from far away… Since corona, everything has changed.”
Ali Bounja, merchant on rue Marie-Christine ©ennio cameriere
In the second-hand clothing store Jipex, promotional posters have been placed. The saleswoman Badia knows the neighborhood like the back of her hand and also evokes with nostalgia the times of yesteryear. “Everything works well, we have nothing to complain regarding, but before it was something else. There were a lot of people.” “The beautiful shops and chic boutiques are gone. The street is sad and becomes like the rue de Brabant,” sighs a regular customer.
Badia (left) and a second-hand trader ©ennio cameriere
Bitter flight from big brands
The cause of this lack of attractiveness according to the people of Laeken we met: the flight of brands, such as Planet Parfum, Blokker, Brantano. “All this attracted people, who then came to the other stores to treat themselves,” explains Badia. “It’s not a fruit and vegetable store that brings people around, because they are everywhere,” laments a shopkeeper. “There is nothing left but food and hairdressers setting up shop. There needs to be regulation.”
The winter sales start this Wednesday: everything you need to know regarding this event which is becoming less and less profitable
In his shoe and suitcase store, Kader, for his part, does not do sales. “There aren’t enough people coming. Since corona, it’s difficult.” And he doesn’t hide it: “I’m thinking of stopping.”
Kader doesn’t go on sales, and doesn’t hide the thought of stopping. ©ennio cameriere
At the Jack & Jones store, fears are also present. “To have sales, you have to sell well. There are still too many goods left, it’s bound to make losses.”
The winter sales begin in a difficult climate for retailers: “Fixed charges and competition from online sales are heavy”
“People can no longer afford to go to stores”
More optimism, however, in an optician’s shop, where discounts are everywhere on the walls, from -20 to -70%. “It works well, everything is on sale. People wait for the sales, it’s usual,” smiles Idrissi. “But we can’t do what we want because the manufacturers also increase their prices.”
At these opticians, everything is on sale, because customers are “waiting” for this moment. ©ennio cameriere
Just a stone’s throw away, Lahna is experiencing its first sales. “I just opened a month ago,” smiles the new manager of “Montres et vous”. “We have sales, the goal is to sell as much as possible.”
Lahna just opened her store last month and went into sales for the first time. ©ennio cameriere
One observation, however, comes back like a refrain among Laeken merchants: people are paying more attention to their budget and expenses are becoming more and more meager. At the second-hand store, you can feel it: “People can no longer afford to go to stores, they go where the prices are lower.”
Bad news: there won’t be any crazy discounts for the sales!
At the Le Fermier butcher shop, well established since 2002, we do not “feel” any sales effect at all on the dynamism of the artery. “Many people prefer to take the metro and go to the center to shop for sales,” Habib notes bitterly. “The situation is getting difficult here, but we are fighting.”
Butcher Habib is “fighting” once morest the “difficult” economic situation on rue Marie-Christine. ©ennio cameriere
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