2024-03-12 18:21:00
Fantasy and good humor leave the city center a little. La Gaîté, this legendary boutique selling costumes and festive trinkets in the lower streets, must lower the curtain. At 87 years old, Monique, the boss, can no longer fight competition from the Internet.
Mask yourself, make yourself up, and above all dress up. Monique Manoukian sells everything you need to party in her boutique. But the boss of Gaîté is feeling down. Because of COVID and ever-increasing competition from the Internet, she is forced to give up and liquidate everything. Unwillingly. “It’s not out of joy that I close, far from it,” slips Monique Manoukian. “I took over this shop so that it wouldn’t close. I said 5 years, I made it 24! But there are no other solutions. We are losing money so we have to stop the bleeding.”
An almost century-old institution
The shop, founded by a magician in 1928, has occupied this same stall on rue de la Rôtisserie since the 1940s. Originally, people came here from all over the region for its large selection of jokes and tricks.
Over the years, the business has specialized in costumes and its many accessories. Halloween and Escalade attracted crowds here. “We had to have a guard at the door, so that people wouldn’t crash at the back of the store. People were queuing in the street. Now, all that no longer exists, remembers Monique moved.
Everything must disappear
The boss will definitely lower the curtain in June. She leaves behind 3 employees and a solid reputation. “As a Genevan, I have been coming since my childhood. It’s a must,” reacts a regular in the neighborhood. At 87, the boss promises to take a breather and enjoy her retirement, far from the world of partying, I promise. In the meantime, costumes, mustaches and party favors, everything must disappear.
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#Gaité #feeling #blue