Takeaways at service stations still remain an important service, even if they're not lucrative Matic Zorman

Takeaways at service stations still remain an important service, even if they're not lucrative Matic Zorman

It’s 10am at the Shell Berchem service station, time for a coffee break. Inside, the tables at McDonald's and Starbucks Coffee are blocked off. 

A few people are lining up for hot takeaway drinks. They come out of the large building, drinks in one hand, cartons of cigarettes in the other. A Russian family takes their breakfast in the car, while another takes over the picnic table, a few metres from the parking lot. 

Standing in front of the main entrance, Kulla Nuredin has just eaten a sandwich. “Normally, for lunch, I’d stop at a restaurant. With [the] covid [crisis], I buy my sandwiches at the shop and eat them outside or in the truck,” says the truck driver from Albania. The day before, he crossed France from Italy, and the same evening, he’s heading to the Netherlands. “It's difficult with covid. There are different rules depending on the country.”

For these drivers and for other customers, "we are a vital industry, we need to be open 24 hours a day," says Daniel Calderon, the A3 service station operator. But always "according to sanitary measures." For example, he says he has been producing bread and sandwiches well into the night. Restaurants, like those in cities, have had to resort to takeaway, always at the same times. “People have taken their habits over time. The concepts of Starbucks, McDonald's and the bakery lend themselves to this." The station manager, however, does not speak of profitability: "It helps all to retain customers, to serve them." The opening of the terraces, scheduled for 7 April, should help.

A summer break

Summer, during which around 25,000 people would stop at the station each day (at least, according a 2018 article), was synonymous with a revival with around 75% of the regular clientele. “We had a lot of people who did not leave by plane and who took the car. We've had an interesting little season, but with the restrictions people aren't consuming like they used to. They do not sit for two hours, they no longer do their shopping,” says Calderon. 

Not to mention the lack of foreign tourist buses, a significant windfall. Customers came "mostly from neighbouring countries," and travellers from further afield--Italy, Spain, the UK or Portugal, for example--were missing. Some days, the employees of the area still had to regulate the entrances, to respect distancing rules. Only half of the 20 to 25 seasonal workers from other years joined the 80-strong team.

Although Shell doesn't provide data on the economic consequences of the service station in light of the crisi, Calderon talks about a "huge impact" at the start of lockdown. He finds the site "deserted" on Wednesday, compared to the usual mornings. 

Travel restrictions, teleworking for cross-border workers and curfews continue to reduce traffic. For trucks, which account for the bulk of activity in terms of volume, there are also the carbon tax and Brexit. In normal times, 260m litres of fuel and 400,000 coffees are sold each year at the service station, per the 2018 France Bleu article. Even if "Easter is too soon," Calderon says he is confident of a recovery during the next summer break.

Daniel Calderon thanked Shell for its support, and employees for their work during the crisis Photo: Matic Zorman 

Saved by the trucks

Across the motorway, on the Aral Berchem service station direction France, fuel sales decreased by 25-30% in 2020 compared to previous years. This represents the major part of turnover. A "significant drop, which is felt especially at the individual level," explains Romain Hoffmann, head of the BP Group and of its Aral brand in Luxembourg, which operates the station. For truck drivers, who continue to refuel, the level is nonetheless slightly lower than before the crisis, at about three-quarters of the clientele.

Over the summer, there wasn’t a "Vakanz doheem" ​​effect. The area suffered from the absence of Dutch, Belgian and German tourists, Hoffmann says. The group, which under normal circumstances employs 50 to 80 people depending on the time of year, has exceptionally not hired seasonal workers.

Takeaway on the motorway not profitable

In the store, too, activity declined, by around 20% over the year--a drop compounded by the ban on French residents to bring back more than one carton of cigarettes per trip. At the restaurant, the drop is between 80 to 90%.

"Motorway restaurants have a very tourist clientele," Hoffmann explains. However, vacationers are the ones missing the most. Heavy goods vehicle drivers come "a lot from eastern countries and have little purchasing power" compared to Luxembourg. “They do their own cooking. They may buy at the shop, but often, not even." 

The establishment has set up a takeaway service, closing earlier at 3pm--a model which is "not profitable".

Precise turnover figures are not disclosed. In terms of attendance, the station does not have current data, but the Aral site reported 1m cars and 165,000 trucks supplied per year, 850,000 customers in the Aral Store and 500,000 for L'Arche. Data that is several years old, Hoffmann adds.

Owned by the state, the motorway service stations are managed in the form of concessions by the fuel stations. Restaurants or stores can then be considered their sub-contractors. Despite the loss of turnover, they have not been able to count on a reduction in rent from the government, at least "for the moment", according to Hoffmann.

BP Group also manages the Capellen Sud service station along the A6. The numbers are no better there, despite the lines that can still be seen, sometimes, in front of the Burger King. Also president of the Luxembourg Petroleum Group, Hoffmann notes an overall negative effect on all service stations, more significant at the borders than in the centre.

Similarly, he doesn’t have high hopes for the upcoming Easter holidays. Next summer he expects "at most, a slightly more normal recovery than in 2020. But not at 2019 levels." Will it be necessary to manage the influx of travelers if tourism resumes, but under sanitary measures? "We don't have to worry about that at the moment."

This article originally appeared on Paperjam and has been translated and edited for Delano.