Since the start of the year, the villages of the region have regained color with the arrival of new businesses.
Several years ago, the villagers feared seeing the iron curtain close definitively on the last businesses in their town, thus threatening the few remaining service offerings. In the Tarn valley, the trend has reversed with shops which have focused on proximity for the pleasure of all.
Since April 2022, new financial aid to support the installation of multi-service businesses in the region’s town centers has been launched by Millau Grands Causses. Non-exhaustive overview of these campaign bets, examples of success.
In Rivière-sur-Tarn, a buyer for the bakery
The mayor of the town of 1,070 souls, Christian Forir (read below), was “inky blood” since the retirement of Mr. Gayraud, the village baker, in spring 2023. Finally, Dimitri Blanc, “pure Millavois product” 43 years old, reopened the premises in mid-May.
Although he had a rental workshop in Millau to carry out a number of markets, this is his first business in the village with around fifteen local employees: “There are already big brands in Millau and the rhythm of the village corresponds to what we were looking for to promote the quality of our products and the image we want to convey, he explained the day after the opening. We deliver to Rozier and the location of Rivière is ideal, with all the campsites in the Gorges du Tarn, especially as the markets remain our main activity for the moment.”
While waiting for his arrival, a bread drop-off was organized in other businesses but the mayor recognizes that “it was complicated for everyone”.
In Paulhe, a first bakery
Marie Michel and Jérôme Devaud had for their part “want to change” but in the countryside. After 15 years at Pic Saint-Loup in the cultural sector, the 41-year-old couple matured their project for five years, the time to pass on their first activity, train and find a site to host their bakery.
“We had scouted places that we liked from the Cévennes to the Basque Country, met the mayors of certain towns and we wanted it to be viable all year round, not just touristy”, says Marie, between two sales on the Millau market. It will ultimately be Paulhe, notably for its proximity to the city of gloves, “the only place that matched our search, really in the heart of the village”.
Since the start of their new adventure at the start of the year, “no regrets” : “We were counting on 20 to 25% of sales at the bakery and we are almost at 70% with people who come from the villages around or even from Millau for those who already come to see us at the Wednesday market.” And to host cultural events like the Lunàvélo in April in a village which had never known commerce until then.
In Comprégnac, citizens are organizing
On June 22, the solidarity grocery store “Epi-C” in Comprégnac will blow out its first candle to demonstrate what all residents call “a success”. This is also evidenced by the extension work to offer fresh products beyond traditional dry products.
Still need to finish installing the shelves “to store like in a real grocery store”. “It started from a citizen desire where we had between 40 and 50 people at the first public meetings and today we have 63 membersenthuses Caroline Julien, grocer of the day, with her husband Olivier, the village mayor. It created a bond and we eat better”, confides the one who is a dietitian. In one year, the structure has 53 producers in its book, for €50,000 worth of goods.
Open from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, the grocery store also offers attractive prices for members, all from the village, in exchange for a helping hand for the organization. Isabelle, in addition to her time, donated a refrigerated cabinet: “It’s nothing but happiness, whether it’s for a repair run or cutting the bib for 15 minutes.” Because that’s also the spirit of Comprégnac’s first business: to exchange and meet rather than take your car to go shopping.
