As tall as three apples, Axelle Blain already said she wanted to be a “scrap dealer, mechanic and second-hand dealer”. She fell into China when she was a kid. Not a Sunday goes by without her parents waking her up to scour the flea markets and garage sales. “They are collectors of collections. I grew up in this universe,” rewinds the young woman. At home, we drive old cars. With the license in hand, Axelle sets her sights on a Beetle and a 404.
After the baccalaureate, she began studying automobile mechanics, making it her profession. But recently, Axelle, 27, has only been doing temporary work “on the right, on the left”. The objective: to concentrate on its flea market activity. Her online store, Coco’n Greta, was launched almost four years ago. There you can find accessories and second-hand clothes, crockery and small furniture. “Only things that I like, that I could have in my decor if I had enough space,” smiles the shopkeeper. Soon, she will be able to store everything at her home in Plœuc-L’Hermitage. While waiting for the major work to be completed, she stores her treasures in the family home.
The nugget
“Favorite” finds unearthed during his wanderings. “I search, I search. I visit small garage sales, I go to second-hand dealers, to individuals who are emptying their homes and who call on me, too. Wherever I hope to find the nugget, in fact.” His niche? The period from the beginning of the last century to the 1970s.
“What I like about China is the story behind each object, each item of clothing,” she enthuses. In old handbags, we sometimes find small coins, or a notebook. It makes me want to know who it belonged to.”
“Not the priority”
In addition to her site, Axelle exhibits her items all over Brittany, in flea markets or vintage fairs. And there is no question of fixing your activity somewhere. “I like to move around, get up in the morning to go unpacking, meet new people and chat with second-hand dealers.” Still, the young woman has her little habits. We find it every second Sunday of the month at Légué, for example.
The almost thirty-year-old spends her days hunting, cleaning, darning, labeling, unpacking, hunting again. But “the situation is not easy for small traders and this type of purchase is often not the priority”. So, she continues to work on the side and devote herself to her other passion, the second side of the coin. In the courtyard, at his parents’ house, the Beetle and the 404 are in the “restoration phase”. No time to get bored !
