Le Figaro Lyon
After Benoît Guyot furniture and L'Homme d'Osier, the last basket maker in the city, a new historic independent brand from the peninsula will close its doors in Lyon.
Established since 1929, and after five generations of boot makers, the Adrien store will cease its activity on April 30.
A retirement which closes the story of this epic journey through France of the Parot family, first established in Paris in the 19th century before arriving in Lyon at the end of the 1920s.
Here again, the closure of the famous Lyon shoemaker tells of the end of these independent, hyper-specialized, city center businesses.
“Here we don't sell boxes, we sell shoes, advice, comfort.
We do cool tailor-made.
We don't oversell anything because we know the price of things.
At our place, we still lend clean tights or try-on stockings by sitting at the same height as the customer.
We ask questions about their needs
,” confides to
Figaro
Valérie Parot, the current owner of the premises.
“But what century are we in?
This kind of store no longer exists.
Wandering through the three floors of Adrien's is like rediscovering the atmosphere of these big brands of yesteryear - before the big groups invested in ready-to-wear -, to whom we made the trip even in coming from very far away, for a shirt, a hat, a pair of shoes or a suit.
A whole era is gradually disappearing with the standardization of city centers.
“When they come in, many customers say to themselves: but what century are we in?
This kind of store no longer exists
,” laughs Valérie.
An old-fashioned side which had attracted the team of the film
Tout va bien, on s'en va
(with in particular Michel Piccoli, Miou-Miou and Sandrine Kiberlain), who, at the end of the 1990s, chose this shop to shoot a few scenes .
After a lifetime spent at 42 rue du Président Édouard Herriot (1st arrondissement of Lyon), Valérie Parot has seen the business change.
“We have especially seen a shift over the last ten years.
There is of course the internet, but also all these shoe chains that have eaten us up.
In the end, we are still here while many have given up.
We fought alone and in the end we will have always paid everyone and we are not going to fail anyone
,” boasts the owner of the place.
A departure almost without regret
In her late sixties, the latter, whose children did not follow the same path, decided to retire:
“There are no more self-employed people.
It will become a rare commodity.
Generations X and Y are volatile, do not cling to the same values as us: family, know-how.
They want to show that they can stand on their own two feet.”
When the offer from Lancaster, a major leather goods brand, came to her, she had to talk to her father, a figure in the world of shoes in Lyon and France.
“I asked for his approval and he said yes.
He understands my decision
,” assures Valérie.
A father, an RPR activist from the time of Michel Noir, who among others welcomed Jacques Chirac in his shop but also Lino Ventura, or even the legends of Olympique Lyonnais Serge Chiesa or Fleury Di Nallo.
Quite a story... However, Valérie Parot is leaving today almost
“without regret”.
Except perhaps the nostalgia “
for a bygone era
”.