How Wallonia wants to save smaller stores

Cities in Belgium’s southern region Wallonia face an increased number of vacant shops in its streets, prompting the chairman of the Walloon Parliament, André Antoine (cdH), to launch several remarkable proposals that will spark a lot of debate.

Target: suburban retail parks

Wallonia cannot escape the fact that it has an increased number of empty store locations, now up to 17 %. The number of smaller stores dwindled 5.4 % between 2005 and 2013. Antoine has written a 64-page booklet, called “Emergency: the convenience store”, to save the neighbourhood store. Several of his proposals will undoubtedly be met with fierce resistance.

One proposal is to ban new retail parks and shopping centers in suburban areas to “stop the bleeding. My main target are the wholesalers, not necessarily the DIY stores or garages, stores that just need a lot of space”, he said in the Walloon paper L’Avenir.

The region already has a decree detailing where commercial activities are located, implemented when his predecessor, Claude Marcourt (PS), was in charge. André Antoine feels this decree does not go far enough: “More than 70 % of every permit request is approved. It is time we make it more difficult”, he said. The Walloon Region should have more of a say in the matter: a municipal permit is all companies need to build a 2,500 m² store, but Antoine wants to limit that to 1,000 m².

Last but not least, Antoine is also looking at additional taxes: he proposes an additional tax for every suburban shopping center or retail park, depending on store space and turnover. “I know this will be highly contentious, but the revenu should go towards a regional fund for urban innovation.”