Half a century of history and literature is about to leave the cobblestones of Vieux Lyon.
The Diogène bookstore, located since 1973 at 29 rue Saint-Jean, will have to return the keys to the 200 square meters of commercial space it occupies in this Renaissance building.
Its walls were bought in 2018 - for just under 2 million euros - by the Maia real estate group, which now wishes to operate it.
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The commercial lease of the three partners of the bookstore will therefore not be renewed when it expires, at the end of 2023. Legally, the three partners cannot oppose it, but French law obliges the new owner to compensate for their eviction.
However, how to assess the damage of a departure from the Viste house, named after this family of Lyon merchants who had it built in the 15th century?
80,000 volumes to be moved in three months
“Just by leaving, we are losing,
says Gaynord Nicoud, one of the three partners.
It will be impossible for us to find an identical place
.
The discussions initiated between the two parties, and which were clarified between 2020 and 2021 around several hundred thousand euros, have also been unsuccessful.
Some 80,000 works, including 2,000 old volumes, have been acquired over the years.
AS/Le Figaro Lyon
The dispute is now in the hands of justice, with the problem of the calendar on both sides.
On the one hand, the
"six mouths"
fed by the bookshop specializing in second-hand books are worried about the three-month period from the decision to leave the premises.
And the removal of some 80,000 works, including 2,000 old volumes acquired over the years, which will not be carried away under the arm.
“We won't have time to find new premises in such a short time
,” laments Laurent Deboeuf, also a partner.
Change barrel
And on the other, the Maia group which
“is working on a very large project concerning the entire building and which should materialize in 2023”
, as mentioned by its real estate director Pierre Neveux.
“Diogène may be an institution, and it would be a tragedy if it were to disappear, the owner has the right to ask us to leave
, recalls Gaynord Nicoud.
If I'm dreaming I hope they realize what they're doing and renew our leases, but we've mourned it a bit and are above all looking for Diogenes to survive
.
Elsewhere.
A real institution in the neighborhood, the bookstore has the support of the inhabitants.
An online petition has collected nearly 15,000 signatures.
The idea is above all to mobilize to find a local, in the city center to remain in the DNA of the place.
And attract subsidies.
