This Rouennais wears the brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun

The two French table tennis stars found the perfect match… in Rouen (Seine-Maritme)! Since 2022, the “Multiset” store, specializing in racket sports, has supplied Alexis and Félix Lebrun with Yonex brand shoes.

Two signed jerseys

As soon as they set foot in the store, customers have a thousand questions per second. “Are these the Lebrun jerseys? Is it true? Why did they send them to you?” lists Guillaume Liot. It must be said that we do not expect to come face to face with the signed jerseys of the two brothers in its discreet boutique, rue du Général Giraud, between boulevard des Belges and the bus station.

“These are the boys’ jerseys that they gave me last year as a Christmas present to thank me for the trust we place in each other,” smiles the former high-level player and coach who regularly communicates with them on Whatsapp.

The two prodigies never entered the entrance to the store, located in a building lobby. “They never came, but I’m the one who sends them their shoes,” explains Guillaume Liot to a customer surprised to hear the news, and proud to have his ping-pong racket changed in the shop dubbed by the two champions. However, the manager hopes to bring the two brothers to Normandy for a commercial operation.

It was in 2022 that Guillaume Liot crossed paths with the two Montpellier residents: “Their coach took care of one of my former players, so we stayed in touch. One day, he told me about Alexis’ knee problems and that’s when we got to talking about shoes . Alexis tried a multitude of them, we had difficulty finding one for him.” And this is no easy task because equipping athletes like the Lebrun brothers with shoes amounts to watchmaking: in addition to reducing the risk of injury, a good pair can save a precious tenth of a second on a press during a match.

Lebrun mania

But be careful of the other side of the coin: Guillaume must now be extra vigilant in his shop: “When we put all their pairs of shoes in a box, I have to make a label with their address to send it. I don’t hit it, but I realize afterwards that I left the address of the house on it And many people want to have their contact.”

Lebrun effect or JO effect, the practice of ping-pong has never been so good according to Guillaume Liot. Its sales of the entry-level racket model (40 euros) have tripled compared to the same period last year. As for the two brothers, they have no intention of letting go of their Rouen supplier. According to the latter, Alexis and Félix even refused an XXL contract in China for this.

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