Michaela Whitton
February 24, 2016
(ANTIMEDIA) France — Furious French cafe owner Alexandre Callet has taken the unprecedented step of banning bankers from his establishment after claiming that they have treated him like a dog. The 30-year-old restaurant owner is fuming with the morally corrupt industry after his request for a €70,000 ($78,000) loan to open a second restaurant was denied.
Callet said the requested amount of €70,000 is “nothing” given that his turnover for last year was €300,000. To express his disgust, the blackboard outside his Parisian restaurant which would normally display the day’s specials now reads: “Dogs welcome, bankers banned (unless they pay an entry fee of €70,000).”
Callet said he believes in reciprocity and had to respond. “If you hit me, I’ll hit you,” he told The Local. “As soon as I see a banker that I recognize I won’t let them enter my restaurant. They have treated me like a dog, so I have denied them access,” he added.
The recent financial knockback is deja vu for Callet as it’s not the first time he has locked horns with bankers. When attempting to open his first restaurant at the age of 23, he was turned down 0ver 20 times before a bank finally agreed to lend him money.
While he is yet to turn anyone away from his establishment, the young entrepreneur said the way he has been treated is reflective of the shameful way business owners are treated in France. He claimed that countless businesses in France are being forced to resort to crowdfunding and blamed French-style socialism, which props up the government whilst small businesses like his battle to exist.
“There’s the 35-hour week. There is globalization, yet our businesses are completely blocked. We can’t find oxygen,” he said.
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