Edmond Mille - Vegetable Fruit & Potatoes

When I asked permission for a photo, the portrayed man and owner of the store offered to put back the boxes he already brought inside. He was in the process of closing and said that the other boxes were filled with many sorts of colorful fruits which would make the photo more nicer. With this little sweet gesture our discussion started, it lasted for at least a half hour. I would like to share a short summary with you here.

The story of this little grocery store begins in 1930. Two bachelor men bought the property and started a bakery in there. The two men, old and sick passed away before the beginning of 1959. They were never married, had no kids and further families, therefore according to their will as stated in the testament the property was donated to the local church.

The church in question is just 3 minutes and streets away from the store. The chapels can be seen from here. The church rented the property to the present family and they started the grocery store somewhere in 1959. Later on the church came into financial problems and sold the building to the hiring family.

Surviving with this little grocery store is almost impossible said the owner. "If I didn’t own the shop and had to pay rent for the store and the accompanying house I couldn’t survive for a day".

This small and authentic grocery store survives even with the presence of the biggest European discount supermarket chain down in the same street, of which the owners are ranked among the 15th richest people in the world according to Forbes in 2007.

I hope that this little family business can find a way to survive for decades to come! Continuing the story of people’s life and love attached to it. I am doing my shopping there this week :-)