Since Monday, December 2, all U stores in France have applied the principle of quiet hours once a week so that people with autism and their loved ones can shop in peace. Every Tuesday, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the volume of the checkouts will be reduced to the maximum, the lights reduced and the music turned off.
Every week since last spring, a few U stores have offered two hours specially adapted so that people with autism or cognitive disorders, who are particularly sensitive to noise and visual stimuli, and their loved ones, can shop in peace. Every Tuesday, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., the volume of the cash desks is lowered to the maximum, the music turned off and the light as weak as possible. Monday, December 2, this system was generalized in the 1,600 U stores in France (U Express, Super U and Hyper U). While this is a first in France, this idea is inspired by Anglo-Saxon countries: in the United Kingdom and Australia, quiet hours already exist in certain supermarket chains.
In the super U of Thourotte, in Oise, one of the first stores to have introduced this initiative, David Texeira, father of an autistic boy from Compiègne (Oise), founder of the association Blue hatching to help families affected by autism, and David Blaise, CEO of the store, has put it all together. “I’m just the facilitator. My son had language disorders, my grandson has Down syndrome. This initiative spoke to me”, explains the latter to the Parisian. Eclosion bleue then trained store employees on disability, in the event of a crisis.
In Vierzon, in the Cher, it is Christelle Berger, mother of an autistic little girl and president of the association Hope for my future, which contacted Hyper U a year ago to propose the principle of quiet hours. Isabelle Ouzet, human resources manager says she accepted immediately. “It was completely normal”, she testifies to the site Business Insider. This initiative does not cause any technical problems and the peace of mind benefits everyone, not only customers with autism and their families, but also store staff, who are delighted to finally have some peace of mind.
Few financial risks
As for the risk of financial loss in the event that this initiative scares away other customers, it is low, assures Thierry Desouches, national spokesperson for the Système U brand, at the Parisian. Indeed, “Tuesday is a day without large crowds. Other stores were interested in the concept, so we decided to generalize it”, he continues.
But for David Teixeira, “this isolated action is not enough. Raising awareness is the key to understanding, he insists, calling on individuals to support the U stores initiative. At the same time, his association continues to try to mobilize major retailers to adapt more to the disability. But he does not intend to stick only to supermarkets. Why not consider quiet hours elsewhere, especially in the administrations?”, he says, full of hope.
In France, according to Inserm, approximately 700,000 people have autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including 100,000 under the age of 20. Because the symptoms appear during early childhood, between 18 and 36 months, and persist into adulthood. Patients suffer from limits in social communication, stereotyped and repetitive behaviors, but also sensory alterations, which make them more sensitive to touch, light and noise, disorders that are obviously very disabling in life. daily. Hence the interest of the initiatives of the U stores.
