The sun’s rays warm the place of the Resistance and the Deportation, plunged into the sanitary winter for two months. It is 10 am this Thursday, and the market has finally resumed its quarters in Hayange. “We missed him. It is a pleasure to find our traders, our habits… “, rejoices Lydia, crossed at the bend of an alley.
For this recovery, only food businesses were allowed to set up. Few have registered. Others have simply failed. As a result, the market is only the shadow of itself. A maximum of ten traders are present. They were gathered in the square.
“This is the first time we have returned,” testify Michèle and Jean-Claude, spice seller. It feels good to find our regulars. We feel that people need to have contact, to speak. “
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Customers not informed of the reopening
Locked up for two months, the clients have not yet recovered all their habits. The market rings hollow. The aisles are sparse. No need to elbow to present yourself in front of the barge. A passer-by puts forward a start of explanation: “I was not even aware that it had reopened. I saw it when I went to the hairdresser. ” The few people we meet are suspicious. They hardly linger in front of the stalls. Flee the questions.
Without being anxiety-provoking, the atmosphere is heavy. A direction of circulation is imposed. Gloves and hydroalcoholic gel are available at the entrance. Traders and customers are mostly masked. The municipal police ensure that the instructions are followed. “People play the game,” says an agent.
Claudia Graff, shopkeeper at Kœnigsmacker, is surprised by the few people present: “In Terville, where the market resumed five weeks ago, there are many more people. From the start it took. Here, I think people are not aware… ”
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“Without clients, it’s complicated …”
A very low influx which does not do the business of Adem Sicek, roaster: “We are happy to resume work but without clients, it is complicated. This represents a huge loss in goods because they are perishable goods. We don’t know how to work. For two months, we didn’t get a dime. We had to take out a loan from the investment bank. “
Fortunately, the other markets in the region are reopening one after the other: Fameck, Bouzonville, Woippy, Metz, Maizières … Light at the end of the tunnel.
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