Bakeries: the debate over 7-day-a-week opening divides small and large businesses
It's a quiet but very real war between bakers: on one side, those who want to open 7 days a week, and on the other, the small independent bakers attached to their weekly closing, which they consider necessary to maintain fair competition. Several lawsuits are currently underway in France. The rules, however, vary from one department to another.
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Even at the end of the day, this bakery in the Paris region is always packed. And it's like that, 7 days a week . Here, there's no weekly closing. The decision was made during Covid. Then, the owner continued to keep it open to build customer loyalty. " We're creating a habit by being open 7 days a week, and we're creating repetition, we're creating regularity, so people come back. And in fact, before they came to us 6 days a week and to the competitor 7 days a week, now they come to us 7 days a week, " he says happily. A choice that has paid off; Jacques-Edouard Dufour has opened three bakeries. " It's a good selling point knowing that we can get them from Monday to Sunday without any problem ," says a customer.
Allowing bakeries to open all week is a prefectural decision. Currently, this is possible in 54 departments. Large industrial producers would like to see the measure extended. " We defend the freedom to conduct business. We find it completely outdated to prevent and force entrepreneurs to close one day a week ," argues Paul Boivin, director of the Federation of Bakeries and Pastry Shops.
But some departments are resisting. In Vienne, the courts have just confirmed this. Bakeries must close at least one day a week, and this doesn't really bother customers. "They've been open 6 days a week, and that's already pretty good," says a regular customer of a bakery in Saint-Julien-l'Ars.
This weekly closure was a matter of life and death for all these artisan bakers. Mickaël Babin, president of the Vienne Departmental Federation of Bakers and Pastry Chefs, explained that they couldn't afford to hire staff seven days a week, unlike the large chains. " It will penalize small businesses because they won't be able to compete with these large companies. And then, customers might ask if they're open every day ," he said. This conflicting demand has fueled a bakery war that shows no signs of abating.
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