1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 519 The Third Shop

Aknina and Josephine rarely had the opportunity to leave Lourmaran, and Ronan, who was driving, guessed that the two women would be exceptionally excited on their way there.

But he never expected that the most excited person on the journey would be Sandrine, who came from Paris.

“I checked the Yellow Pages yesterday, and there are five bakeries in the area where the foundation is located,” Sandrine excitedly kept repeating. “Ronan, after we get the certification, drop me off at the bakery door. I want to buy some bread before going back.”

Ronan agreed, feeling both amused and exasperated.

It seems the bread shortage crisis has had a serious impact on Sandrine's life; she even made sure to buy bread to take home from Avignon.

“Avignon is such a big place, there are five bakeries.” Josephine said enviously, looking out the window at the city view.

Sandrine explained with a smile:

"This is just a small area, Josephine. The yellow page that records the bakeries in Avignon has half a page full, at least dozens of them."

"So many bakeries?" Josephine asked in surprise.

Barty joins in the women's conversation:

"Josephine, Avignon is the capital city of the Vaucluse department, with a population and size many times that of Lourmaran."

Sandrine shook her head and said:
“Cavallon is only twice the size of Lourmaran, but the Yellow Pages list 17 bakeries!”

Barty laughed heartily and asked:
How many Yellow Pages have you actually looked at?

Ronan couldn't help but chime in:

"You mean twice the area, but Cavaillon has a large permanent population, tens of thousands."

Sandrine patted the driver's seat and said to Ronan:
“I’m serious, Ronan. No matter how many permanent residents Cavayon has, there are quite a few tourists coming to Lourmaran. The size of Lourmaran is seriously disproportionate to the number of bakeries. There must be many people thinking about opening bakeries. This is a business opportunity.”

Aknina looked at Sandrine's profile and said:
"I heard that two bakeries are going to open on the new commercial street."

Lourmaran currently has nowhere to open new shops, and all new shops will be located on the two phases of the commercial street that will be completed in the fall.

“Oh dear—” Sandrine sat back down regretfully. “Ronan, someone beat you to it.”

This time, Ronan didn't refute, but pondered for a few seconds before replying:

"I'll think about it again."

To express his gratitude for the two women's representatives' great contributions in the early stages of the Lourmarin weaving industry, Ronan brought Aknina and Josephine to Avignon.

Josephine stepped up in the emergency and taught weaving with Barty, opening up the first market for Christmas wreaths.

As women enthusiastically embraced this new handicraft ecosystem, Aknina's authority stabilized order in Lourmaran, allowing the weaving business to develop smoothly to this day.

They are also the 'great heroes' of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative.

The Thorns & Sun Certification Institute affirms and encourages women like them.

Ronan's heartwarming gesture made the staff of the Provence Women's Foundation show even more sincerity and enthusiasm towards them.

Especially during the certification process, Ronan's encouragement of the two women to accept the certificates made the foundation more convinced of the attitude of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative and Ronan—that they genuinely respected the women's feelings and were not just going through the motions.

Seeing that the two women from Lourmaran were quite reserved in the unfamiliar environment, the foundation thoughtfully arranged for staff of similar age to take them to visit the foundation's small exhibition area, where there were many success stories of women changing their destiny with their own hands.

Meanwhile, another group of staff members explained the certification precautions and subsequent random inspection system to Ronan and his group.

"This physical certificate can be displayed in a prominent position in the cooperative; I've seen other workshops do the same," the staff member explained carefully. "In the future, the furniture you make can be decorated with patterns of thorns and blazing sun, but there are requirements regarding the placement."

She took out a small booklet:

“Please provide a detailed list of the types of furniture you are making. The placement of patterns varies depending on the type of furniture. If the patterns are placed incorrectly, you will be fined.”

The certification guidelines are quite stringent, specifying not only the placement of patterns on different furniture but also requirements for size and dimensions.

Fearing that Ronan and the others might not take this seriously, the foundation gave them a stark example of what not to do: this month, in a workshop in Avignon, workers printed patterns that should have been inside leather goods on the outside. The punishment for being discovered was a six-month suspension of certification.

"Think of how much we'll lose in six months." The staff member earnestly advised Ronan and his group, "Follow the rules in everything, and don't let money get in the way."

As the staff explained the precautions, Ronan was taking notes diligently, nodding vigorously.
"Don't worry, we will definitely do things according to the rules."

Sandrine had some understanding of the certification usage guidelines, and she asked:
"Do we need an anti-counterfeiting code?"

In the future, every piece of furniture with the Thorns & Sun certification will be accompanied by an anti-counterfeiting code, which customers can use to verify whether the furniture is genuine.

The staff member closed the booklet:
"The application for license codes is an annual review system, and they are issued once a year. We will assign codes based on the quantity and category of the items you submit, in the format of PS-87-xxxx, where PS stands for the Provence region and 87 is the year."

"Can I submit the application now?" Ronan continued to ask.

The staff member nodded:
"Okay, I'll give you the application form in a bit. Fill it out and pay the 300 franc usage fee. Come back in a few days to pick it up."

Batistuta volunteered to take on this task:

"Ronan and I will see how to write it in a bit."

After explaining some precautions and usage guidelines, the staff member said seriously:

"The foundation will conduct at least three random checks on the furniture you make every quarter. Quality issues, misalignment of certified patterns, unauthorized use of codes, or the use of power tools will all be severely punished. In the most serious cases, certification will be revoked in advance. Also, please note that the certification mark is strictly prohibited from being used in television advertisements, but it can appear in magazines and offline posters. Do you understand, ladies and gentlemen?"

"Got it." All four nodded at the same time.

After the stern-faced staff member finished speaking, his expression finally softened:
"We look forward to your performance in Lourmaran, and we hope that more people like you will emerge in Lourmaran."

After finishing their business, Cafu, Batti, and Sandrine went to the exhibition hall to look at the video materials. They wanted to know which other famous brands and workshops in Provence had received the Thorns Sun certification, and whether they could find any inspiration from it.

Ronan didn't rush over; instead, he consulted the staff member about other things.

"If it's not a handmade workshop, but a shop selling other products, but with mostly female employees, can I apply for the Thorns & Sun certification?"

The staff member said awkwardly:

"I'm sorry, darling, the Thorns & Sun certification is a certification system for handicrafts, and it probably won't apply to other categories."

Ronan muttered to himself:

"Is that not allowed?"

After catching his breath, the staff member continued:
“However, besides certification, we can also provide other assistance. The mission of the Provence Women’s Foundation is to encourage women to step out of their homes and achieve economic independence. May I ask what other categories of shops you are referring to?”

All these actions demonstrate that Ronan is a man who respects women, and the foundation staff were very willing to discuss business with him beyond the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative.

After a brief pause, Ronan finally spoke:
"It's a dessert and bakery that sells bread, specialty pastries, and desserts, but this is just an idea, and it's still uncertain whether it can be implemented."

In fact, Ronan had been thinking for months about what to open the third shop on the new commercial street.

The restaurant and the flagship knitting store were decided long ago, but he still had no idea what to open the third one. However, recently he has finally found some direction.

Currently, the restaurant's customers are highly polarized; some come specifically for the meal, while others come specifically for the desserts.

While opening a second restaurant can solve this problem to some extent, the fact remains that the average spending per customer has decreased.

In that case, why not open a dessert shop to separate the two customer groups?

After this idea came to mind, Ronan hesitated for a while.

Blanco would definitely give Ronan three of the best-located shops, and turning one of them into a dessert shop would be a bit of an overreaction.

The dessert shop has a low average order value and a low table turnover rate. Many tourists can sit for an entire afternoon with just a cake and a cup of coffee, so the business volume is naturally lower than expected.

At this moment, he thought of Sandrine's need again—a bakery.

While offering desserts, we can also set aside some space to sell bread. Customers who come specifically for bread can buy it and leave without taking up much space. This should definitely boost our revenue, right?

Lourmaran is currently facing a 'bread shortage' crisis, and the bread designs Ronan presented when he participated in the bread competition have yet to find a suitable sales channel. Many diners who have tried them are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to taste them again.

He has the 'recipes' in his head, and Leah understands the tastes of Provence. Together, they can make many outstanding breads, whether they are traditional local breads or innovative ones, with a distinctive style.

As for the two other bakeries that are about to open on the shopping street, Ronan is not worried at all.

Besides desserts and bread, he has another weapon that is unique not only in Lourmarin but also in Provence: Chinese pastries, fruit desserts, and the recently popular molten chocolate, which can be sold on a large scale.
If everything goes as planned, Ronan thinks this is entirely feasible.

However, the prerequisite for the establishment of the third dessert shop is to solve the problem of labor shortage.

They want to make bread, desserts, and all kinds of pastries and chocolates, so you can imagine that this dessert and bakery must be huge.

Where do the employees come from for such a large store?

Moreover, this is not an ordinary job; it requires a certain level of technical skill, and the requirements for employees are much higher than those at the market.

Ronan was worried that this idea would be difficult to implement, given how difficult it was to recruit market staff.

The words of a foundation staff member interrupted Ronan's thoughts.

She replied passionately:
“A pastry shop in Provence with a predominantly male-dominated industry and mostly female employees would be a real breakthrough, and we should offer some support. But can you find a female pastry chef who can support the business?”

Ronan temporarily put aside his worries and replied:
"There's no need to worry about the fact that Luberon's first female pastry chef to receive a CAP certificate lived in Lourmaran."

The staff's eyes lit up immediately. Are there so many remarkable women in Lourmaran?

“We’ll discuss it and contact you as soon as we have a result.” This wasn’t something the staff member could decide immediately, but given the situation at the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative, she believed there was a high chance of success. “Believe me, it should be good news.”

"Thank you so much." Ronan added, "The biggest problem for this dessert and bakery right now is the manpower issue. It's difficult to find so many suitable women in a short period of time. If possible, I hope you can help me solve this problem."

After leaving the Provence Women's Foundation, Ronan first took Sandrine to buy a large bag of bread, and then drove to a nice restaurant to treat everyone to a good meal.

Josephine was overjoyed.

The last time she dined outside of Lourmarin was when she and Henri went to Marseille to take their wedding photos.

"That was 20 years ago, wasn't it?" Barty silently calculated for a moment, then said in a bright and sunny tone, "My dear Josephine, I will take you out to eat more often in the future, and all of you together. We also need to have team building days."

Josephine nervously gripped the hem of her dress:

"No need, no need, we're already doing very well."

Although she didn't understand what 'team building' meant, it wasn't hard to guess from the context that it must cost a lot of money, because she saw that every dish on the restaurant's menu was followed by a long string of numbers.

Ronan smiled and said to Batistuta:

"Team building activities are a must, it's an employee's right. See if you can organize them to have a meal at a restaurant once a month or once a quarter, and take them out for a walk every six months. They can't always stay in the courtyard."

Previously, we were paid per item, so we didn't have to think about so many things.

These female workers are now full-time employees of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative, and they are entitled to all the necessary employee benefits.

The thought of taking women out for fun excites Bati:
"Okay, okay, I'll arrange the get-together for this month right away. As for going out for fun, let's wait until the tourist season is over. When there are tourists, there will be more orders. Stopping will only delay things."

Cafu crossed his two arms, each as thick as a tree root, and joked with a smile:

"What are you talking about? Our cooperative doesn't have a tourist season; it's peak season all year round."

Ronan said with a bright smile:

"Kafu really knows how to talk! No wonder you're a salesman. Well then, I'll take your good wishes. Our handicraft cooperative will be in peak season all year round!"

“This is no joke—” Cafu put down his arm and said seriously, “Didn’t you see? What kind of workshops got the Thorns of the Sun certification? They’re all very famous in Provence.”

Ronan was chatting with the foundation staff about dessert and bakery shops, and without properly browsing the photo display area, he had no idea what kind of workshops had received certification.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Ronan asked, half believing it.

Aknina, the oldest and most authoritative woman present, affirmed:

“Caff was not exaggerating. The people from the foundation said something similar when they were explaining it to us. They said that all the workshops that received the Thorns Sun certification became ‘stars’ in Provence, and they even congratulated Josephine and me.”

Ronan slammed his hand on the table in excitement:
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Waiter, bring two more bottles of wine!"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Cafu, Batty, and Sandrine:
"Go into detail, which other workshops have received certification?"

Barty snapped his fingers at the waiter:
"Bring the best wine."

Josephine, feeling sorry for Barty, wanted to persuade him not to let Mr. Ronan spend money, but Sandrine stopped her with a smile:
"Don't worry about Josephine, Ronan is about to become even richer than he is now."

“And he’d be several times richer than he is now,” Cafu added humorously. “Ronan could probably buy an entire shopping street.”

"Stop joking around and get down to business. What other workshops are there, and what can we learn from them?" Ronan sternly rebuked them.

"Well, we'll have to wait for the wine to arrive."

"It's more fun to chat when we have drinks."

"Ronan, do you still have any Camargue bulls in your fridge? If we can't finish talking at noon, let's continue tonight."

Aknina took Josephine's hand, and the two women smiled happily at each other.

This is all so wonderful.

Who could believe that just a year ago they were scrimping and saving at home, even reluctant to turn on the lights, could be sitting in a high-end restaurant in Avignon today?
And this is not even the upper limit of happiness.

Because the children in front of them were still talking about things that could make the future better.

(End of this chapter)