Supporting Local Businesses: A Community-Run Café in Brittany

A Community Café in Coësmes (35)

In France, for many years now, the depopulation of certain rural areas has unfortunately been a reality. The gradual disappearance of local shops in our villages contributes to this trend of rural depopulation.

Yet it sometimes happens that an independent business owner attempts, in vain, to take over a business. This is what happened in Coësmes with regard to the Bar Tabac, which closed in July 2016, and the restaurant, which closed in December 2021.

Since the village of Coësmes no longer has a bar or a restaurant, our collective has explored ways to maintain a local business.   

A collective project

The enthusiasm generated by the reopening of this collective and welcoming space is genuine, sincere, and meets a strong need among the local population.  The collective aims to provide a high-quality commercial offering backed by a social, supportive, cultural, constructive, innovative, open program that is inclusive of everyone. To achieve this, it draws on the skills of all its members

Our objectives

-> Collectively open a neighborhood store in Coësmes
-> Promote the reappropriation of a store by the local
population -> Meet the needs of seniors, families, and young people
-> Address the sociocultural needs identified in the community
-> Build connections between people and foster solidarity initiatives
-> Maintain and create new inter-organizational ties through constructive
partnerships-> Ensure the establishment’s long-term viability by proposing a pragmatic and innovative economic model