Amazing Classic
By Philip Simon
Published on
Thierry and Veronique Blanchet still can’t come back. They just sold their shoe store to Chateau-Gontier (Mayenne)this summer 2022. The business had been in the family fold for four generations.
“A month and a half ago, it was out of the question. Everything happened really fast. We still have a hard time realizing it. »
The Blanchet Shoes store is sold. However, the hour of retirement has not come. Thierry58 years old, and Speedwell55, seized the opportunity to sell it.
“We were canvassed during the works, this summer 2022. We didn’t think long. We said to ourselves that this might not happen again in five years. And customers can be reassured. Lucie continues the brands,” says Thierry Blanchet.
After ninety-eight years in the family fold, Chaussures Blanchet is changing hands. Lucie Chauvin, 40, bought the business. Originally from Château-Gontier, she has ten years of experience in the profession. “I’ve always wanted to settle down. I’m making a dream come true,” says Lucie Chauvin. It will be part of the continuity while bringing its personal touch.
family history
The building was built in 1923. great-grandmother, Suzette Lerouxbought land from the hospices for her daughter, Olympe, who opened a shoe shop in 1924. At 19, avenue Razilly, the business and housing Olympusmarried to Raymond Blanchetthe grandparents of Jack and Thierry. On the front, you could read Cinderella, which referred to the tale and the vair slipper.
Thanks to the sales of made-to-measure boots, related to hunting, the reputation of the trade is made. In 1955, Guy Blanchet and his wife Suzanne take over. “My brother, Jack, and I lived part of our youth in the store, which we took over in 1985,” says Thierry.
Jack and Thierry created SARL Blanchet when Jack opened a second store in Laval (Mayenne)in 1986. Thierry retains that of Château-Gontier with his wife Véronique, from 1990. Blanchet Shoes is a family story.
Thierry don’t regret anything. “My father taught me the trade of shoemaker in the workshop, where there are still my grandfather’s tools. We did like the parents”, completes Speedwell.
The couple confides that they “never suffered the impact of the development of e-commerce. On the other hand, the Covid years will have marked the spirits: “The closure of trade scared us. We were happy to see that customers were waiting for us to reopen. »
A page turns. “Our children have made their way, and taken different directions. »
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