With just seven months to go until the Olympic Games, the regional prefect announced on Friday, December 15, the specific exemptions that will be applied to businesses in Paris. According to Marc Guillaume’s conditions, stores in 15 of the city’s 20 districts will be allowed to open on Sundays from July 26 to August 11.
The sectors concerned are those “best able to meet the needs of the public during the Games,” according to the regional prefecture: “food retail, sports and leisure articles, multi-commerce stores, cycles-motorcycles, department stores, clothing/ready-to-wear, and bookstore-stationery.”
This is an opportunity to boost commerce as 15 million visitors are expected in the Île-de-France region during the competition, as estimated by the Paris tourist office. The mayor of the 6th arrondissement, Jean-Pierre Lecoq, hailed the news as “very good for merchants” in a statement. He would like “the entire city of Paris to be in an international tourist zone,” allowing shops to open on Sundays.
The 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, and 20th districts are not included in this exemption. The reason given is that these neighborhoods do not host any Olympic sites and are not included in the international tourist zone, unlike the Champs Elysées where shops can open on Sundays all year round.
