After two years of traveling 20 miles to get a glass of milk, residents of the village of Franquelin on the north coast have finally been able to see their grocery store open its doors again, thanks to a citizen’s initiative.
Convenience store Franquelin, run by Martine Paquet and Richard Légaré for 33 years, had no successors when its owners looked to retire in 2020.
The only shop in the village of 285 remained closed until April last year, when Karine Briand decided to buy it.
Ms. Briand says it all started with a joke. “One morning while I was preparing a recipe, I realized I was out of milk. When I saw that I had to drive more than an hour to buy something in Baie-Comeau, 32 km from here, I suddenly didn’t feel like cooking anymore. Then I said to my spouse, “The worst we can do is open a supermarket in our garage to sell eggs and milk!” He replied, “Why don’t you go to the supermarket?” After all, I thought about it for two weeks and then decided to do it,” she says.
GASOLINE SOON?
If the convenience store survived, the same cannot be said for the fuel service that housed it and was important to citizens and travelers.
Between Baie-Comeau and Baie-Trinité, a distance of almost 90 km, there is no longer a petrol station. But there is hope right now, says Franquelin Mayor Steeve Grenier.
“We have to power mowers, snowmobiles and snow blowers. It gets complicated to haul gasoline in cans if you don’t have a pickup truck. Luckily, it looks like the convenience store will soon be able to get a gas concession,” says Mr. Grenier happily.
The vitality of this trade is very important for the village, whose school was closed this year for lack of children, says the mayor.
“The supermarket is the soul of the village. The municipality had examined the options, but a cooperation project was not feasible. When we saw that it was bought, we crossed our fingers. It’s a godsend!” he said.