In 1973, Simone Labbé bought the Vannier bookstore, located at the bottom of rue Porte-Chartraine. “Joined by my father when he retired”explains their son, Olivier Labbé, current owner of the premises.
At the time, the shop was very modest, occupying only 60 m² and run by the two employees of the owner, Mrs. Vannier, who rarely showed herself. There were many bookstores in the streets of Blois at the time: a communist bookstore, a Catholic bookstore, the Piletan and Caplat bookstores, each at one end of the rue du Commerce, the Antonietti bookstore, plus a bookstore specializing in literature, as well as Dame Tartine, which did not only sell books, but had a section of children’s literature. Most of them employed two or three people.
The long decline of the school book
In 1975, the owners expanded their business. Over the two decades since they moved in, their store has grown, in two phases, from 60 to 200 m², as they ended up buying the entire building while living on the first floor. Above which were the reserves. “It was the general trend, the owners continued to live within their walls,” Olivier Labbé emphasizes.
He and his wife Catherine took over in 1992: “It was still the time when education represented 20% of turnover, but we knew that it was going to disappear.” The shopkeeper says he regrets not seeing families arrive any more, either at the start of the holidays or just before the start of the school year. “The obligation to enter a bookstore to buy books, even second-hand ones, led to a social mixing that broke down many barriers.” Additionally, school books lasted a long time because curricula did not change as often as they do today.
The young couple decided in turn to proceed with a first expansion: by purchasing, as soon as they moved in, the Roselyne shoe store where the stationery store, overlooking rue Saint-Honoré, and the literature and art departments would be located at cellar level. A few years later, they acquired the Lory butcher’s shop and completely renovated the building. Today, the store covers 750 m², spread over 5 levels, and employs 12 people.
“Before the shops reopen, we need to bring back the residents”
According to the shopkeeper, it was the clothing stores, with the arrival of the big national brands, that set the pace: they had the means. This led to an impoverishment of the commercial offer and its variety. Goodbye drugstores, hardware stores, haberdasheries… “Before the shops reopen in the city centre, we need to bring back the residents, considers the bookseller, The disruption caused by Covid has raised awareness among everyone.
Despite everything, he is confident and intends to continue his work with middle and high schools by continuing to have them visit the bookstore, discover an author and, why not, spark a passion for the bookselling profession. ?
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