Well they didn’t ban the business model. They just ruled that a warehouse can’t be classed as a store. Which is atleast to me fair sounding.
Yes, it sounds “fair” on the surface, but the city could have worked with these companies to provide a solution over the pandemic.
Even a basic cash register with a box of gum for sale at the counter would have made this a “store”, so the zoning issue isn’t what the problem was.
City officials in Paris were delighted by the pull-out. “The dark stores are over,” said deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, evoking their “predatory capitalistic behaviour”.
… city planners said the model threatened to drain life from the public space and create a society of home-bound consumers.
But after complaints … and fears of unfair competition
I mean, really, it sounds like they simply didn’t want these businesses there at all, no matter what.
Now, consumers don’t have the service available, and traditional grocery stores won’t put in any effort to provide it. It’s a terrible outcome, IMO.