On the stalls of the participatory grocery store, carrots, rillettes… and the link between people

For almost fifteen years, the town of Saint-Jean-sur-Mayenne, 1,647 inhabitants, no longer had a grocery store. Exit the butcher, the hotel and the two grocery stores. All that remained, in the town center, was a small bar, just opposite the church, where one service was celebrated per month. You can still sit there for a coffee and cream and refresh your throat.

But, to fill the shopping bags, the proximity of Laval and its commercial areas got the better of local traders. Saint-Jean-sur-Mayenne has become a dormitory town in the inner ring of the Mayenne prefecture. We go back there after work, we sleep there. Peaceful and green village on the edge of the Mayenne, but without shops and without really any local life, except, perhaps, around the two schools.

“Something was missing”

“I have been looking for a long time how to revive the town and create links, says Évelyne Chesnel. I could see that people didn't talk to each other too much, that something was missing, the bond between people. » …