“My clients were my morning joy”

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SATURDAY, Marie-France Deleurme will serve its last liters of gasoline to motorists, after 48 years of presence in the town center of Saint-Etienne-en-Coglès (Ille-et-Vilaine). A real turning point in the small town now married to its neighbor Saint-Brice (Maen Roch). Because the shopkeeper, whom everyone here calls by her first name, is a figure locale unanimously appreciated. “I feel like all these people are going to miss me. They don't want to see me go! » she smiled.

Six days a week, twelve hours a day

Marie-France Deleurme runs her station since 1976. With an ideal location on the edge of the RD 155. A historic road which linked Mayenne and Fougères to Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint-Michel (it has since been diverted).

It was then a Glorex, which was succeeded by other brands (Elf, then Elan and today Total). There were then nine stations in the canton. There are some two now: that of Marie-France, and that of the U supermarket, on the other side of the town.

Suffice it to say that the station provides great service to local motorists. “But there are also businesses, artisans, farmers, administrations, the gendarmerie,” lists Marie-France.

Without forgetting the tourists and other travelers who use the A 84 motorwaySaint-Etienne being near the interchange. “From Nantes to here, there is no station on the side of the highway”!

Open six days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., it admits to having saved many travelers who were desperate to find fuel.

Never an automatic pump

Over the years Marie-France has woven a very special relationship with many of its clients. Because it has a trademark: it itself serves motorists.

Everyone tells me that it's more pleasant to talk to a real person rather than an automaton.

She never wanted to install an automatic pump. Alternately girlfriend or friend, the shopkeeper was also an advisor or confidante.

Some people talk to me about their lives and say: I'm telling you this because you won't repeat it. Sometimes, I also preach… and I cheer up!

Marie-France herself was able to count on his entourage to maintain morale during difficult times. As in the fall of 2018, when her husband, Jean-Pierre, died. “I pay special attention to my children and my close friends. Because if I stayed there, it’s thanks to them. Their kindness was something unwavering, constant,” confesses the future retiree.

The station will remain

Retirement, precisely. Marie-France, who until now lived above her office, will start it “in the sector”. Any projects? “I will probably get involved in an association that works with sick children.”

The kindnessalways, for the shopkeeper: “my customers were my morning joy. I stood up for them.”

And then the inhabitants of Saint-Etienne will undoubtedly see it… refueling in its old station. This will reopen quickly, once a few administrative details have been resolved, still under the Total brand.

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