Valérie Pécresse, the regional chief of greater Paris, told BFM TV on Monday that small businesses were suffering under Covid-19 restrictions and needed to reopen on November 27, also known as Black Friday.
Non-essential businesses are currently closed until December 1 as part of France’s second lockdown.
Pécresse claimed that if smaller retailers weren’t allowed to reopen for Black Friday, a major day in the commercial calendar, then they would lose out to global brands with a large online presence.
The regional president added that the government needed to be more flexible and allow small businesses to open under restricted conditions that wouldn’t undermine Covid-19 guidelines.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has come under increasing pressure from regional officials, particularly in Paris, to open up businesses in a safe manner during the lockdown.
His government has previously shot down requests from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to allow bookstores to reopen as ‘essential businesses’.
France’s four-week lockdown is due to end on December 1, but Macron has warned that the measures could be extended if Covid infections don’t fall fast enough.
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