The spread of superstores in Métropole du Grand Paris - The geography of commercial enterprises of 1,000 m² or more, in each territory and sectors of activity

There are now, in 2019, 913 commercial enterprises of 1,000 m² or more, covering a surface area of 2.7 million m², in Métropole du Grand Paris out of a total 1,973 such establishments, covering 6.3 million m², in the whole of Ile-de-France. 58% of Ile-de-France inhabitants are concentrated In Métropole du Grand Paris while it accommodates only 46% of the Region’s superstores. However, the recent opening of superstores indicates a changing trend which favours a return to centrality, particularly within MGP urban centres. Between 2014 and 2019, MGP recorded an overall positive balance between the creation and disappearance of commercial enterprises (+37 establishments) while the overall balance in Ile-de-France, not including MGP, was negative (-1 establishment). The increase of 37 establishments mainly involves the centre of MGP, particularly Paris (+17 establishments) but also West Paris territories, such as Paris Ouest La Défense (+10 establishments) and  Boucle Nord de Seine (+12 establishments).

Paris plays a major and unique role in the metropolitan’s commercial structure because the capital concentrates 349 commercial enterprises of 1,000 m² or more (representing 1 million m²), that is 34% of superstores in MGP and almost half of those created between 2014 and 2019. Paris stands out from the rest of the Metropolis because many of its commercial enterprises are old (a heritage from the first, big department stores), very few are gathered into commercial centres and, contrary to what can be observed in the rest of the Metropolis, deal very little with food products. However, in Paris like everywhere else in the Metropolis, a large part of the new commercial enterprises correspond to the boom in sports venues linked to the trend observed for many years of people looking for ways to be healthier and to improve their well being.