COVID-19, challenging times for business and society

Challenging times, COVID-19

Last night, our Prime Minister announced the closure of all non essential businesses, as France works to deal with the threat of the on going spread of the Coronavirus. 

A move our business, Storie, had been anticipating with quiet dread for over a month now, as we watched how the virus swiftly made its mark on the world around us. My colleagues and I have been disinfecting the shop, manically hand washing and merrily elbow bumping, much to the amusement and bewilderment of quite a few clients, many of whom seemed respectful and grateful for these gestures. The others dismissed our efforts as us bowing to some type of hysteria. This response is something we heard even as recently as yesterday (14 March 2020), from clients and fellow “commercants”. In our local market, I saw stand holders pass food to little kids with their faces pressed up against the glass windows of the food displays, the children and parents eating the offering, even licking their fingers, apparently unaware of the danger. Cafe owners, insisting on giving people the bises (kissing each others cheeks), in almost aggressive defiance of the concern over COVID-19.

In light of the overall public response, despite the damage this will do to my own small business, Storie is in complete support of the actions our government has taken this week. 

On Thursday 12 March, President Macron announced creches, schools and Universitys would be shut, and in the same broadcast, outlined broad measures to help businesses cope with the impact. As a small business owner, I was impressed by the detail outlined to support businesses in the President’s speech. In a time of great uncertainty, this speech, aimed at reassuring us did as good a job as possible. I don’t think I’d be exaggerating to say these particular challenges are unprecedented for our generation, and dramatic action is needed to get on top of the problem. 

Storie is both a bricks and mortar shop and online, until now the main income of our business, and the lion's share of the costs come from the physical shop in Paris, but now the shop front is shut this paradigm will need to change. 

This week I’ll be going through the proposals made by the government, and taking Mr Macron up on his promises to business owners, getting us into a holding position and making plans to try to survive the shut down.  

Keep an eye on www.storieshop.com , https://www.instagram.com/storieshop/?hl=en  and  https://www.facebook.com/storieparis/ for the latest from Storie, we’ll be adding new products and Stories every day. 

If individuals and businesses embrace the challenge, follow advice on hygiene and distancing ourselves from others from our governments and health organisations, then the shock to our systems may be short and sharp, we can slow down the virus and give our health services the chance to fight it as they must. 

Fiona Cameron, Founder

Storie, 20 Rue Delambre, Paris, 75014