These two friends will give new life to this Loire-Atlantique station

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It's been five years since the station Sainte-Pazanne (Loire-Atlantique) lost its ticket office… Results: empty and vacant premises, but still places of passage for train users.

So in 2022, the SNCF launched a call for projects “Place at the station”. Objective: actively participate in the revitalization of the station and the neighborhood and is fully part of the Small Towns of Tomorrow program and the town center revitalization project.

A stopover at La Station

It was enough to motivate these two friends, Yoann Robin and Sébastien Masson. To invest this 120m space² approximately, the two friends, both inhabitants of the country of Retz, imagined The Station.

The concept was popular and today, their project is on track. And soon arrived at your destination!

Coworking, but not only

In December, the station will come back to life by offering a café-restaurant and a coworking space. The latter, modular, located on the first floor of the station, will offer 8 individual workstations, but also equipment such as a video projector, “making it possible to accommodate punctually or regularly (day, week or month) independent workers or local employees or passing through, looking for a working solution that is both friendly and practical,” emphasize the project leaders.

“This meeting or training space, which can accommodate up to 15 people, can be privatized for the morning, day or evening. »

Slow tourism or gentle tourism

On the ground floor, a good deal for travelers, a café-restaurant will offer drinks and snacks to eat in or take away. “A corner of producers from Pays de Retz will put on sale in a short circuit, a selection of products illustrating the diversity of the actors involved in the development of the territory,” underlines Yoann Robin.

But La Station will not just be a coworking or transit space:

It will make it possible to create meetings and synergies between coworkers… Workshops, conferences, collaborative lunches will go in this direction. »

With La Station, the two friends have found their HQ, which allows their agency Doux Rêveurs to establish itself and shine in the country of Retz. Because the DNA of their company, created a year ago, is to develop “slow tourism” or gentle tourism to help people discover the country of Retz.

“We get on a train at 8 a.m.”

“Soft tourism promotes disconnection, the rediscovery of local areas, meeting and sharing with local populations,” explain the managers of Doux Rêveurs and La Station. The practice encourages more ecological travel, with low CO² emissions, which respects heritage and biodiversity. » For the moment, aimed at businesses, the Doux rêveurs agency organizes low-carbon travel experiences, close to home. “Leaving a station is incredible! We board a train at 8 a.m., stop at a station, canoe on the Tenu, then take a bike and visit a permaculture farm in Saint-Hilaire de Chaléons ! It's magical! », breathes Yoann Robin who likes to add surprises to his performances.

This is the kind of service they want to offer to the general public in 2025. “The station will be an opportunity to launch a tourist offer for the general public, thematic outings combining train and bicycle, by welcoming tourists to the station to help them discover the retro-coastline and the coastline in a different way. »

Tenants for eight years, renewable

If the SNCF remains the owner of the walls and finances the structural work, Yoann Robin and Sébastien Masson, tenants for eight renewable years, are in charge of the finishing and decoration.

Complementary, the two friends, who had already joined forces to create a third place in Pont Saint-Martin, have a multitude of ideas to energize this space and create bridges between different actors in the region: “The Pont Rousseau station in Rezé has become a bookstore. Why not bring orders for books by train? », says Yoann, whose professional career is focused on the social and solidarity economy. Sébastien comes from digital and tourism. Both define themselves as “project assemblers”, relying on initiatives that already exist in the country of Retz.

La Station, rue de la gare, in Sainte-Pazanne. Open in December, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., low season. Contacts: www.doux-reveurs.fr / [email protected]

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