“It’s an attractive city”: we went to take the pulse of small businesses in Menton
2023-07-19 12:05:00
This Tuesday, many of them converged on the heart of the city and rue Saint-Michel. In flip-flops or sneakers. In shirt or t-shirt. Classic tourist attendance for a month of July? Not really. It was in fact, on Tuesday, to attend the launch of a new boutique all dressed in chlorophyll.
The Palais des Thés has placed its metal boxes full of dried leaves, flowers and other twigs in the ocher artery. Instead of another chain – L’Occitane en Provence -, yet present throughout France. But then, choosing Menton, is it strategic or not?
“We have a particular product. Tea is not an impulse purchase. The French consume around 240 grams per year, that’s not much. I am especially attentive to the environment, to neighboring brands. I look if we can feel good there, find our place there.” Francois-Xavier Delmas (our photo below) founded Le Palais des thés 36 years ago. Since then, he has set up 110 boutiques in France and abroad. He rocks: “Menton doesn’t need us to be dynamic…”
François-Xavier Delmas, founder of the Palais des thésPhoto G. Beautiful.
Instinct…
His concept, he launched it a bit by chance… or rather on instinct. A bit like he finally chooses the locations of his stores. He’s laughing: “I sucked at school, I didn’t know what to do. We brought together people who all donated 2,000 francs to create a place in Paris. We lost our money, so we said to ourselves: let’s go up for a second!” He discovers tea, the real one, that of Asian, Indian plantations, etc. He travels. Passionate about this art. And makes his box bloom.
Cité du Citron, it relies on customers who were already consuming via the net. “It’s our way of knowing if it’s worth coming or not. Menton, it was pretty obvious.” A customer leaves the site, a bag loaded with green boxes: “I’m delighted. I favor the short circuit and houses that offer products whose provenance we know. And of quality! The more we have in Menton, the better.”
A “test” for Italy
François-Xavier Delmas also thinks of the Italian potential and the “test” that rue Saint-Michel will allow him to carry out: “It is obvious that it will allow us to see how the Italians react to what we offer and if it is worth considering crossing the border. At the moment, we have no idea.”
Globally, he speaks of Menton as a city “very beautiful and very attractive”. And he’s not the only one betting on it. Everyone around him agrees. This is an essential factor that pushes the Parisian boss to exclude any new installation in a shopping center: “I believe that it is the duty of a company in good health, like mine, to favor the hearts of towns. If, precisely, we want the city – even small! – remains pleasant and lively, we must set up pretty shops there.”
Anne Kervot, in charge of communication for Menton Sourire.Photo G. Beautiful.
The merchants’ association relies on the good purchasing power of locals
At “Menton Sourire”, the leitmotif is: stay posi-tive. And not just in terms of sales, of course. It is a question of how to see things here. Because if the traders have the reputation of bitching a lot, the city of Lemon seems to offer an interesting stability. Anne Kervot, communication officer for the local association confirms: “We work well all year round. Betting everything on the influx of tourists would be a mistake… it’s just the icing on the cake.”
For the Mentonnaise, manager of a ready-to-wear boutique, you have to work on your “sense of hospitality and commerce”. On the strong loyalty of a clientele who lives there, year-round. The famous “customer file”. “We are not Saint-Tropez. We’re not growing exponentially.”
She completes: “Depending on the zone where you are, you also have to adjust your way of working. I’m near Saint-Roch, Félix-Faure, and I’m pretty busy at the end of the day. I don’t hesitate to stay until 8 p.m. sometimes.”
She also regrets that her street is not more dynamic: opticians, banks, dental practices do not particularly boost the artery. “Les Sablettes are also regularly animated and that’s great. Only, everything happens on the other side of the city and we suffer from it.”
The 150 members of Menton Sourire – chaired by Laure Ippolito – still have their highlights. Like the two annual sell-offs: in September and April. “We sell our stocks, it works well. And then, it must be said all the same: there is great purchasing power in Menton.”
It is for this clientele that Anne Kervot would like more shops to open. She also welcomes the arrival of the Palais des Thés, inaugurated on Tuesday. “Black Friday, first days of the sales, Christmas period… Customers escape to big cities or shopping centers. Because the offer is wider. And that’s really a shame.”
What she would also like is to see attractive concept stores develop. “Even in very small rooms, great ideas can come to life. There is the question of rents, of course, which does not facilitate anything…” A regrettable downside.
Marc Jasset, elected CCI.
Photo archives A.R..
Offer an even wider palette
“A good trader is a trader who adapts.” Marc Jasset, is elected to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and operates throughout the Villefrance-sur-Mer – Menton area. “It’s difficult for an independent to manage everything, that’s why many join a brand. We’re going to move more and more towards that.”
He was himself at the head of a shop and president of the association of merchants of Menton. “Menton lives well throughout the year and in particular because it gets off to a strong start, in February, with the Lemon Festival. And then it is also lucky to be a very touristy town.”
Italy? “It helps, even if the very chic clientele that we had ten years ago is no longer there. The Italians have suffered from the crisis and they have reclaimed their own economy.”
Buying local matters: “We have never done as well as in the period of yellow vests… The people of Menton no longer went to Nice for their purchases. The lesson is to be able to offer everything you need on place.” Broaden the palette further, strengthen certain positions. “Being in a new offer, younger, even more adjusted to demand.”