The End of an Era: Morard Hardware Store in Bulle Closes after Over a Century

2023-06-26 15:25:57

It is a page of Friborg history that is turning: the Morard hardware store in Bulle will close its doors at the end of July. For more than a century, this store, a veritable institution in the township, offered items not found in other businesses.

For the past ten years, this institution of Gruyère commerce has had difficulty in the face of new consumption patterns. The closure of the Morard hardware store will put an end to an adventure that began in 1906.

Jonathan Mercier, salesman in the famous hardware store, showed Sunday in the 7:30 p.m. of the RTS one of the oldest articles sold in this shop: an old hand-cranked vegetable grater.

New modes of consumption

“Customers really come for advice, to find out”, but “they take the photo of the article with the number and they order on the internet”, laments José Chavaillaz, director and owner of the store.

“I would say that we have tried everything to stand out, with following-sales service for example, but unfortunately that is not enough to live on,” explains the owner, moved.

“This store is a treasure”

The emotion is also palpable among the customers of the Morard hardware store. “It’s sad, because it was, basically, a very useful shop for odds and ends,” says a passerby. “There are still a lot of things that we found here and not elsewhere: three screws, two bolts, fork handles”, explains another man.

“It’s just impossible to let a shop close like that. It’s a treasure, this store”, denounces another customer.

TV Subject: md
Adaptation web: Julien Furrer

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