INSEE recently published a study on the location of commercial zones in Reunion Island., based on 2015 data. It confirms the growth of activities in the periphery, even if commercial activity is still very present in city centers. As elsewhere in France, Reunion’s commercial zones are developing outside the heart of cities, close to major roads. Local commerce (large food stores, restaurants, bakeries, bank branches…) do not escape this evolution. It brings together 38,600 jobs at the end of 2015, located in 7,700 points of sale. Among these jobs, two out of three are located in a “shopping center”, grouping of small businesses close to a town center or larger stores within commercial areas, on the outskirts of towns. In 2015, 14,800 jobs are located in one of the 31 city center centers and 11,000 in one of the 42 outlying centers. However, city center shopping centers remain very present in Reunion Island. : they account for four out of ten local retail jobs at the end of 2015. In comparable territories of mainland France, this is the case for less than three jobs out of ten. Salaried employment in local commerce in Reunion is also dynamic : +1,5% per year on average between 2009 and 2015, against only +0,2% in metropolitan areas of similar size. It grows the most in the peripheral centers (+3,9%), twice as much as in comparable cities in France. Salaried employment in the periphery is thus gaining ground to the detriment of the city center. Indeed, the offer in Reunion’s commercial zones converges with that of the mainland, with in particular the gradual establishment of national brands of large specialized retailers. However, Reunion city center centers continue to create salaried jobs between 2009 and 2015 (+0,6% on average per year), while they are losing some in France (-1,4%).
COMMERCIAL POSITIONS : THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERIPHERIES IN FIGURES
