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Fast grocery firms doomed by French dark store ban
(www.bbc.co.uk)
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this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
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Yes, it sounds "fair" on the surface, but the city could have worked with these companies to provide a solution over the pandemic.
Even a basic cash register with a box of gum for sale at the counter would have made this a "store", so the zoning issue isn't what the problem was.
I mean, really, it sounds like they simply didn't want these businesses there at all, no matter what.
Now, consumers don't have the service available, and traditional grocery stores won't put in any effort to provide it. It's a terrible outcome, IMO.
At least where I live here in Finland, traditional retail chains are very much in the shopping delivery business. Exactly including using their vast retail stores network as their base of deliveries. However again their stores are actual stores.
The dark stores would have had choices. For example don't run a purely dark store. Run it as combined delivery base and retail store. The walk in retail might be minority of the business, but then they could say "no, we also have walk in customers. We aren't a dark store, the city mayor is free to walk in and come buy a bottle of cola from us."
Same in Germany. The big grocery chains all deliver for a reasonable fee. Also, at least in big cities, most neighborhoods have a grocery store in walking distance for most people. Delivery becomes almost unnecessary (for the able-bodied folks)
The service is still available. Uber Eats and Deliveroo do partner with supermarkets and still offer grocery delivery service. They have their own issues that need to be addressed but the service is still there.
In principle I agree with the decision. Retail space should be reserved for retail and not warehouses.
I am not a city planner and don't know if these cities can do with more warehouses near the center. So perhaps there was an alternative solution but I don't want storefronts turning into dead space. This ruins the character of a city. And ghost kitchens should be next.
Uber eats isnt nearly as fast as these places, from what i understand. You could literally order something and 10 minutes later, it's at your house. That was the main draw to using them.
Other food/grocery delivery simply couldn't compete and i think a lot of government officials were buddy buddy with the upset shop owners who were losing business, so they had to step in.
And they aren't arguing on whether the "warehouses" are worse than stores but can be fixed, but that delivery only places should be banned outright.