Marseille: accused of causing nuisances, night grocery stores forced to close

Their colorful storefronts are the last to shine at sunset. However, they will soon be forced to close their doors at 10 p.m., as indicated by a decree published this Monday by the Bouches-du-Rhône police prefecture.

The order signed by its prefect Pierre-Édouard Colliex provides that all businesses "for the retail sale of everyday consumer goods" and located in an area that includes the Old Port , the Saint-Charles train station and La Plaine must close every day of the week between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Any offender is liable to a range of criminal or administrative sanctions and procedures.

A ban that will officially take effect on March 21 for one month, as the police prefect announced to Le Figaro last December . In the sights of the senior official and his administration: a certain number of businesses "whose activity maintains and encourages the permanent presence of people, nighttime gatherings that disturb the peace of residents" , specifies the police prefecture which, to justify the scope of its order, relies on the numerous complaints from local residents and neighborhood associations.

The sale of alcohol, tobacco and nitrous oxide - the use of which is diverted for recreational purposes - also worries the authorities, who specify that "all of these attacks on public peace and disturbances of public order are particularly evident from 10 p.m." "The police services, both municipal and national, regularly note disturbances of public order in connection with the late opening of these establishments," states the decree.

Above all, these general food stores have gradually become easy targets for robbers and other criminals specializing in serial extortion . A phenomenon closely monitored by the interdepartmental directorate of the national police and its Specialized and Organized Crime Division (DCOS, ex-PJ) responsible for investigating an impressive series of armed robberies at the end of 2024. Questions are also being raised about the core activity of these night stores, whose occupation is not limited to retail sales but also to the laundering of money from various trafficking activities.