No sign, no light, only curtains down. The only way to spot them: the incessant comings and goings of scooters through the sliding door. They are called “dark stores”, or ghost stores. It is these mini-warehouses that are increasingly settling in our city centers since the confinements and the rise of online commerce. Deliverers of ultra-fast small food errands pick up orders there do online.
In Marseille, a few months ago, Gopuff, an American company, moved to Cours Gouffé. A little more recently, the Turkish company Getir has opened its warehouse on boulevard Rabateau. They deliver crisps, shampoos, packets of pasta, and even fresh fruits and vegetables or bottles of hard liquor until after midnight on weekdays, 2 am on weekends. The additional delivery costs do not exceed two euros, for a very low minimum order, 10 euros in general, with promotions very regularly. A well-oiled but controversial model.
It goes on the sidewalks, left side right side, not looking. Nearby there are elderly people going out-The residents of Cours Gouffé in Marseille
In order to deliver quickly and become competitive, these ghost warehouses set up downtown. Despite the absence of a storefront, they go less and less unnoticed. Local residents complain of noise pollution in the middle of the night, incessant anarchic deliveries, without spaces suitable for trucks. Traffic sometimes becomes dangerous. Michel, at the co-ownership union council next to one of these warehouses, is at his wit’s end: “it goes out on scooters, and then after it goes on the sidewalks, left side right side, not looking. There are old people coming out next to it”. For him, this kind of establishment has nothing to do in town and would be more suitable on the outskirts.
– Julie Gasco
They are on all social networks, these are watches that arrive-The owner of a convenience store on Boulevard Baille
Some convenience stores have been losing customers since the arrival of dark stores. Baille Boulevard, a business established for twenty years is about to close. For Mounir, at the head of this supply, these new companies have a lot to do with it: “We can never do anything against them, they have unbeatable prices, they advertise, they are on all social networks, these are watches that are coming”.
The mayor of Marseille wants to ban them
So like many city councilors from all political stripes, the mayor of Marseille, Benoit Payan, wants to ban these ghost stores. These elected officials denounce the absence of a legal framework for this new type of establishment. Legally, they are neither shops, because there are no customers on site, nor really warehouses. In fact, regularization is complicated.
A draft ministerial decree in progress
The problem, however, is not new. These platforms, which are increasingly visible on billboards, have abounded since successive confinements, propelled by the boom in home delivery of all kinds. The movement began in Paris first, then in other major French cities such as Marseille. New this summer is the draft ministerial decree that could legalize these supermarkets without customers. Mayors, who try to regulate them, are worried about it, while the government ensures that this text is “put in consultation, to collect observations”.