Business of the month
Ruth Wood dreams of setting up shop in a rural market town popular with British expats in southwest France
Have you ever seen the film Chocolat in which a nomadic mother breezes into a conservative French village and opens a chocolate shop there? She awakens appetites, ruffles feathers, challenges traditions and brings people together before shutting up shop and moving on.
The film was a big commercial success, but the heroine’s business didn’t last too long at all.
It’s food for thought: if you ran a shop in France, where would it be, what would you sell and how would you make yourself indispensable to the community?
Take this lovely commercial and residential property in the department of Deux-Sèvres for inspiration. The location has a lot going for it. It’s in Chef- Boutonne, a small but thriving commune of around 2,400 inhabitants, roughly an hour from Poitiers and Angoulème.
The town is some 15 minutes’ drive from the bigger town of Melle but far enough away to have a decent mix of amenities and independent businesses. Families are served by two primary schools, a collège and lycée. And the town is also popular with British expats, who no doubt appreciate the relaxed pace of life as well as community attractions such as the cinema, château and outdoor pool.
The property sits in prime position in a parade of shops overlooking the market square. It’s a three-bedroom townhouse offering 135m2 of habitable space over three levels. Connected to mains drainage, it was renovated 10 years ago to fit double-glazing and install new electrics, plumbing and insulation. A tenant is already in place but can leave if necessary before the contract ends in October 2024.
Currently a gift shop, the ground floor is a spacious room of 44m2 with a large shop window. A French door leads to a small courtyard and a lightfilled kitchenette with access to the cellar
