Josette Piedra, president of Espace Couture, the oldest haberdashery in Carcassonne, is retiring

Her fuchsia jacket announces the color. Josette Piedra, salt and pepper hair, short bob, radiates solar energy. He's 68 and has been working in hardware stores for 52 years, and it's time to retire. On Monday, January 22nd, Espace Couture, its store located at 37 rue Verdun in Carcassonne, will close. Instead, California Us, a military clothing store, will take over the space. “I didn't see the time passing”Josette Piedra repeated several times, The bright look behind his midnight blue glasses.

She fell into haberdashery while interning in college. Very quickly, she made it her passion. To the point of working there for free every weekend. At the age of sixteen, she began as an apprentice with André Briand, at 3 rue Victor Hugo, in Carcassonne. Two years later, she was laid off and became an employee for ten years at Louise Sicre on Rue Verdun. For her, this period represents the golden age of haberdashery. “At 7:45 a.m., fifteen minutes before the store opened, there was a line down the street. We didn't even have time to chat with colleagues,” she recalls chatteringly. “And now I have calmed down.”

She's able to stay for half an hour with a client who came in for a pimple, and it explains a lot

After employees and employers. Louise Secker retires and offers her employee to take her place. Which Josette Piedra accepts. “I worked and worked. I never counted my hours.”, the interested party testifies. Her university friend, Josette Aribaud, 66, describes her as caring: “She's able to stay for half an hour with a client who came in for a pimple, and it explains a lot.”

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Strong advocate for stores

In Ali Baba's 60-square-metre cave, straps intertwine with socks, zippers and belt buckles. With sparkling eyes, she talks about her love for her three windows. When she was young, she wanted to become a storefront designer, but the financial burden was too heavy for her parents. It doesn't matter, in her shop, she's having a blast. A photo album next to his cash register bears witness to his ideas and creativity: January in white, Valentine's Day in February, and even a game of squash from the park between tights during Halloween.

Josette Piedra, a strong defender of stores, protests against online commerce and warmly thinks of her customers, whom she thanks. “I had a blast at work.”She smiles, happy to finish. “I need to enjoy life: cooking, gardening, resting, traveling in France,…” Married since 1977 and with children to Jean-Pierre, she didn't have the time. “It was the store.” She answers. certainly.