1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 398: Starting to save for retirement!

In the afternoon, Ronan went to Batty's yard.

The woven chairs have all been delivered to Apte recently. Ronan came over to talk to Batty about the frequency of their future design of new styles.

Once you have a physical store, it's best to regularly update with new styles.

Previously, Cafu pushed them to do this step. If they want to make the name of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative well-known, it would be best to standardize and streamline these details.

"What are your thoughts? Do you design a new batch of styles every month?" Barty didn't have much of a concept of these things and relied more on Ronan's advice.

Ronan crossed his arms, looking thoughtful.

“If we were to run the ‘Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative’ as a brand, it would be best to design something new every month, but that might be a bit impractical. Let’s operate on a quarterly basis. We can delegate some of the innovation tasks to the women; they’re very skilled at making garlands, lamps, and ornaments. You and I will be in charge of the furniture.”

Batistuta nodded first, then shook his head:

“But with so many new things we’re making, can Cafu’s little shop even hold them all? You’ve probably seen it, haven’t you? It’s a very small shop; adding more chairs would make it feel cramped.”

Ronan had certainly gone to check it out; every time he and Zoe went shopping at the Milona Market, they would go to see how things were there.

If you define it as an art shop or a jewelry store, then its size is appropriate, but if you define it as a furniture store, then it is too small; cost limits the area.

The future focus of the "Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative" is precisely on high-end furniture.

“That’s only temporary. In the future, we will definitely open a big store, a professional big store.” Ronan also took this into consideration when setting the design cycle to quarters. Furniture can extend the new product cycle, but the speed of new products for those small items is best measured in months.

Barty said with some concern:

“You and I are artists, while Cafu is a decorator. We are somewhat distant from what we are doing now. From a human perspective, we are not professional enough.”

Ronan has already thought about this problem:
“I know a professional friend who is very experienced in brick-and-mortar stores, especially high-end stores. When she comes to Provence at the end of the month, I will introduce her to Cafu to see if she can be of any help.”

Ronan was always concerned about Bruno's wife's employment situation.

As a fellow Parisian, he knew very well that it wouldn't be easy to find a job in Provence similar to Galeries Lafayette, especially since Bruno didn't want to live in big cities like Marseille and wanted to enjoy the pastoral scenery like Ronan.

Their "Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative" is a very good option. We'll see how Bruno's wife reacts, and if she's interested in the business, what role she'd like to play in it.

"You said a long time ago that you wanted to open a big store. Did you have a goal?" Batty asked doubtfully. "We want to take the high-end route. Opening a big store in any city is very expensive."

Ronan tilted his head noncommittally:

"You can choose a niche but upscale place."

Batistuta blurted out:

"It doesn't sound like there's much foot traffic."

Ronan pursed his lips:

"What if the tourism industry is also highly developed at the same time?"

Barty scratched his thin cheeks a few times and muttered softly:

"Are there places like this in Provence?"

Blanco had not yet announced the major events that had occurred in Lourmaran to the ordinary villagers, so Ronan was hesitant to explain his thoughts to Batty.

Claude himself said that Lourmaran's future positioning is a niche and upscale village.

During the tourist season, it attracts high-end tourists from all over the world. In the off-season, it brings together the local intellectuals of Provence through niche crafts, specialty restaurants, and rosé wines. Ideally, it should also host one or two eye-catching events regularly, like Gold.

As Provence is destined to become synonymous with 'niche' and 'high-end', it would be perfect for the Lourmarin Crafts Cooperative, which is both niche and high-end, to establish a flagship store here.

Don't forget, this is a workshop named after Lourmaran!
But when will the second and third phases of the shopping street that Blanco mentioned begin construction?

On the way back to the restaurant from Batti's yard, Ronan passed by the Lourmaran government building, and without a second thought, he turned in.

I should come here often in the future.

This time, as soon as he entered, he ran into the same girl who had stopped him last time, but this time, Contina immediately ushered Ronan upstairs:
“Sylvie went out to inspect building materials, but she said before that she would take you directly to the village chief’s office on the second floor when you arrived. Mr. Ronan, would you like coffee or tea? I will bring it to you later.”

Ronan first politely said thank you:
"No need, you go ahead and do your work. I'll just say a few words and then leave."

"Okay, then I won't bother you any longer." Condina tactfully left.

After taking a couple of steps, Contina suddenly regretted it and exclaimed "Oh dear!" But when she turned around again, Ronan had already disappeared.

"I should say thank you. It was because he praised me for being responsible and polite that Sylvie transferred me to the market management center."

“Never mind.” Condina, still clutching the documents, went to get her colleagues’ signatures. “We’ll definitely have opportunities to work together later, and there will be many things I can do to thank him.” “The first payment from the tourism bureau won’t arrive until early April at the earliest. Once the money arrives, we’ll immediately begin several major projects, including the second phase of the commercial street construction, the renovation of Lourmarin Castle, tourism infrastructure development, and the construction of the winery castle,” Blanco said with a smile. “Don’t worry, the rosé wine is a high priority; we’ll allocate the budget to that first.”

The Tourism Board's first batch of financial aid to Lourmaran will arrive in installments over three months. Similarly, Blanco's aid to Ronan cannot be provided all at once. The payment schedule has been agreed upon during previous communications between Sylvie and Jerome, and Jerome has no objection to the three-month payment period.

Blanco thought Ronan was getting anxious.

Now that Ronan is the buyer, Jerome is less concerned about the payment period; Ronan is asking about other things:

When will these projects be completed?

Blanco said in a calm tone:
"As I said before, rosé wine is the highest priority. We will ensure that the winery's factory construction is completed before September, so that Stella can officially start operating. The commercial street will be completed by the end of this year or early next year. The deadline for the castle's restoration is April next year. The first batch of tourism infrastructure construction is also scheduled for completion around that time. The last one is the holiday villas, which may not be until next autumn."

This is a priority order that the government had set beforehand.

In short, Lourmaran will be either under construction or undergoing restoration for the next two years.

No, it's not just two years.

Lourmaran will apply for a second round of tourism funding assistance. What will be built then depends on any new developments this year.

Ronan smacked his lips.

Will the new commercial street be completed by the end of the year?
But thinking about it, that makes sense. They only got a large budget this month, so Lourmarin's new look won't be shown to everyone until next tourist season. The same goes for Stellaco; this year is a year of preparation, and they won't be able to officially sell wine until next year.

The completion of the commercial street at the end of the year also has an advantage: it will give the "Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative" more time to develop.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Ronan didn't rush to leave, but continued to ask:
"Have you chosen the locations for the winery and holiday villas yet?"

The Lourmaran government sold a plot of land to Ronan for 1 franc to build a factory.

At this price, Ronan naturally didn't dare to specify the location and followed Blanco's arrangements.

Blanco had previously discussed the location with Ronan. Considering the large amount of equipment to be installed there in the future and the fact that a high-end resort castle was to be built nearby, the location would be some distance from densely populated residential areas, but he hadn't decided on the exact location yet.

He would think about informing Ronan before actually starting construction.

However, Ronan has been researching new grape varieties recently, and Jérôme reminded him of the soaring land prices in Provence, leading him to have some new considerations regarding the location of the winery.

"I've had too many things to deal with lately, and I haven't thought about this in detail yet," Blanco replied frankly.

Ronan said in a probing tone:
“I’m applying for a ‘test field’ for a new grape variety. You know, it’s not easy to cultivate new grapes in Provence. We can only plant them on a small scale for experimentation. And the new grape variety may have special requirements for natural conditions such as soil composition and altitude. The vineyard near my house may not be suitable for growing the new variety. I’m considering buying some more land from the farmers. Can we decide on the location for the factory after I’ve decided on the new grape variety?”

Remoteness was no problem for Ronan; he didn't care.

However, he wanted to choose an area where the surrounding area was suitable for planting new grape varieties to build the winery.

The large wineries in Châteauneuf-du-Pape are all built on vineyards. Just as Jerome said, combining these two things will enhance the value of both.

For several days in a row, Ronan dreamed about Jerome's 50 hectares of 'retirement money'!
I'm so hungry!!

Although land prices are already high now, they will definitely be even higher in the future. However, the specific amount to buy will only be determined after the new varieties are identified.

If a new variety is successfully developed, Ronan will undoubtedly be the greatest contributor to Lourmarin's success.

Moreover, Lourmaran's farmland is entirely in the hands of farmers, which is too fragmented, and Blanco also hopes to do some 'centralization'.

According to previous research by the Lourmarin government, villages with wineries tend to have highly concentrated land ownership, and the higher the degree of concentration, the larger the winery.

Of course, he hopes that Hitzfeld will grow bigger and stronger.

Aside from the densely populated villages, there were countless places within Lourmarin's jurisdiction to build wineries, so Ronan's suggestion was no problem, and Blanco readily agreed.

“Sure, but when will your experimental field project be finalized? To ensure progress, we need to start building the factory as soon as we receive the funding in early April.”

Ronan hesitated for a few seconds:
"I will call the Ministry of Agriculture again tonight to ask about the specific situation and timeline. My timeframe is also early April. This matter must be finalized before early April."

Blanco nodded and said with a smile:
"Once you confirm this here, I will immediately organize a general meeting of Lourmaran, announce the disaster compensation terms, declare the future specialty route to be rosé wine, and call on everyone to implement the 'uprooting plan' to complete Lourmaran's important agricultural restructuring."

"Are you sure?" Ronan asked in surprise.

During their last meeting, Blanco said he wanted to discuss this matter internally.

I didn't expect the results to come out so soon.

Blanco stated definitively:
"Between 1985 and 1986, more than 7000 hectares of farmland were abandoned in Provence, and 3500 farmers gave up farming to work in tourism, construction and service industries. Provence's transformation from traditional small-scale farming to tourism services and large-scale agriculture is an inevitable trend. Lourmarin cannot fall behind this time!"

(End of this chapter)