While tourist figures to the world famous La Cite, the huge fortress twon that looks over Carcassonne continue to increase, reatilers in the low twon- the Bastide St. Louis- report a continuing drop in trade. Christine Menardeau-Planchenault, the person in charge of central town business at the chambre de commerce et d'industrie (CCI), said that while the overall picture was down it was not a universal malaise. In an interview with midi-life she agreed that the overall footfall was down in the centre of town with less people visiting and people visiting to shop less frequently, however she did point out that while for clothes and bookshops the results were down the resaons were very different, "Clothes shops in Carcassonne are loosing out to out of town shopping centres, bookshops across France have seen a bad year because there have been no massive block buster like Harry Potter", on the other hand shopping that requires more personal attention from the sales staff, like shoes and beauty and perfume have seen a stabilisation or slight increase despite the falling visitor/shopper figures. For Christine Menardeau-Planchenault there is not one simple solution to the problem but central town retailers need to address the needs of their customers more closely, opening during workers lunchtimes- like the big edge of town shopping centres do would be a good start.

Carcassonne- Retailers in the town centre report worse year ever, Peter Shield, 25th January 2005

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