LAn essential bookstore in Périgueux (Dordogne), Des Livres et nous is preparing to open a new chapter in its history. In a few months, it should leave rue du Président-Wilson, where it had been located for more than twenty years, to move to a new address: 10, rue Taillefer, formerly Bleu citron.
Sabine Agraffel and Pierre Derensy, its managers, wanted to move closer to the city center. “Wilson Street offers little visibility: it’s difficult to find new customers here,” says the bookseller. The work carried out on rue Taillefer and a “missed opportunity” to rent their first premises there gave them the spark: “When we saw the plans, we said to ourselves that it was going to be nice, that it would be a superb street in which to settle. »
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Des Livres et nous is a brand known for organizing numerous events: meetings with authors, signing sessions, reading evenings, etc. “We often found it a shame not to be able to attend the events organized in the center of Périgueux, participate in the Vintage Days, the Gourmet Nights… Since Taillefer, it will be simpler,” explains Sabine Agraffel, who is also considering setting up cultural meetings on market days, as she already does in her other bookstore, in Lalinde.
“We will be able to create real universes”
“We say to ourselves that now is the time. It’s been six years since we took over this business. We have had some difficult years, especially after Covid. We want to start on new bases, with new ideas. »
On two levels and 90 m²
The premises at 10, rue Taillefer are spread over two levels: a ground floor and a garden floor. A long set, offering a surface area of 90 m². “Rue Wilson, we were in 100 m², so we will lose little space. But it’s certain that we’re going to have to readjust,” comments the bookstore. She and Pierre Derensy have no trouble envisioning themselves there, imagining a youth corner there, a veranda corner here. “We will be able to create real universes,” enthuses Sabine Agraffel.
In the bookstore on rue Wilson, the boxes are not yet packed. The thousands of books are still on their shelves and on the exhibition tables. There is no rush for Sabine Agraffel and Pierre Derensy, because “there is work to be done on rue Taillefer”. They hope to take over the premises in the spring, “in good weather”.
Where is Rue Taillefer?
The team at the Des Livres bookseller is banking on the potential of rue Taillefer in Périgueux, today brand new and completely pedestrian. But how many do it? On this formerly major axis of the city center, commercial vacancy remains significant: numerous empty windows bear witness to this. This could change quite quickly. The Advenis agency believes in it. Working on the marketing of vacant sites in this axis, she “thinks that things will move in the coming months” now that the place has regained its splendor.
