the last clog maker in Morbihan throws in the towel

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The decision is recorded. Jean Boutros will close the Sabot Camorien end of January 2025. It was not with joy that he made this news official on Tuesday, December 3. He is disappointed not to have taken up the challenge he had set for himself “and to let go of this heritage. I am sorry for the Camorians and for the Bretons,” he said, his face serious.

It was in July 2022 that he officially took over the company from Claude Simon, a clog maker in the town for 40 years (and who himself succeeded his father). All his career, the Camorian fought to show that the clog is comfortable from the moment it is adjusted to the foot, and above all, he was convinced that it had a future.

This is what attracted his successor, who came to meet him at the end of 2020 at the clog factory, following articles published in the press where the clog maker announced his upcoming retirement and his concern about not finding a buyer. For the former manager of a campsite, it was more than a challenge: a reconversion to a noble profession, “since it is hypersatisfaisant to start from a tree trunk and put shoes on people with practical and comfortable clogs ».

Fortunately I was surrounded by two “Mac Gyver”

But today he cannot continue. “I have too many swords of Damocles hanging over my head.” First, there is the machines, “which date from 1910which necessarily poses a concern for sustainability over time. »

With them, uncertainty is permanent, and each breakdown is a real hassle. He particularly keeps one of them in mind: it lasted five days. “Luckily I was surrounded by two MacGyver, Michel and Bernard, to get me out of there. » During these two years, suffice to say that the new clog maker learned patience, keeping in mind “that there is always a solution to everything. »

Training considered too short

The production tool is a major problem. To this are added production difficulties. Jean Boutros does not hide the fact that he would have liked to be accompanied until he mastered it, “as was initially planned. »*

There is a feeling of bitterness among those who were happy to reconvert to this ancestral profession. “I certainly wasn't quick enough to learn,” he admits. But kind support with some advice from time to time would have been welcome. You don't learn to make clogs in three months…”

“No room for maneuver”

The customers remained loyal. The clog maker continued to supply individuals, Celtic circles, and Puy du Fou. But his turnover was just in balance“with no room for maneuver. »

Without his experience as an entrepreneur, he knows he would not have lasted two and a half years. This time the closure appears to be definitive since it seems impossible to put the company up for sale again “there is no one to train. »

It's a page that is turning in Camors, which had up to 80 clog makers. Time to sell out of stock, closing is scheduled for the last Saturday in January.

Please note. The Au sabot camorien store is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Closed from December 23 to January 5. Closing on January 25, 2025.
* We requested a reaction from his predecessor, in vain.

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