There was a deal to be had. And a local with storefront. Sébastien Delcourt, 41, has just collected the keys to his new haunt: a former haberdashery located rue Charles-de-Gaulle, in the center of Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines.
Winner of the “My test shop” operation, he will offer a repair service for electric scooters in this town of 6,000 inhabitants. At the gates of the Chevreuse valley, a paradise for cyclists, Sébastien’s shop will also examine bicycles.
Sale of accessories, customization of scooters, conversions from classic bike to electric bike… This variation of activities around soft mobility appealed to the selection committee, which had to decide between three projects within the framework of the program “My shop on the test » supported by the Initiative Seine Yvelines association.
He got started by offering a mobile repair service
Sébastien Delcourt benefits from a six-month lease, renewable once. If the test is conclusive, it will be able to perpetuate the adventure. A former sports educator, he invented a new life for himself in February 2020, by offering a mobile repair workshop, driving a truck.
A broken down scooter or bicycle in the south of the department? Sébastien went to recover the machine and repaired it… in the veranda of his pavilion, in Boinville-le-Gaillard.
“In this geographical area, nobody repaired scooters: there was a market to be taken”, he summarizes. The first pedal strokes in this new activity confirm his intuition: “I noticed a clear increase in power last September. Since then, the increase in requests has been constant”. So much so that Sébastien Delcourt spends his time on the roads.
A model to be duplicated in other villages
“The idea of finding a fixed location quickly took hold,” he explains. I discovered the call for applications on a poster, passing through Saint-Arnoult, 12 kilometers from my home. The support offered by Initiative Seine Yvelines provides both visibility and security. After some refreshment work, the shop should open at the end of the month.
Once a month, Sébastien will also make his workshop available to individuals who wish to repair their scooter or bicycle themselves, in exchange for a fixed price. If necessary, he will continue to crisscross the south of Yvelines at the wheel of his truck to recover gear to be repaired. If the experiment conducted in the Saint-Arnoult workshop works, the specialist plans to duplicate the concept “in other small villages in the sector”, by hiring employees.
On the sidelines of his activity in the shop, the doctor of scooters will also maintain a proposal that has been attractive for two years: accompanied rides in all-terrain Segways, these electric machines on which the user stands on a platform, in the middle of two big wheels. Excursions are organized in groups of seven, in the park of the Château de Rambouillet and in the domain of Dampierre-en-Yvelines.
Soon six “trial shops” in the Yvelines
Founded in 1999, the Initiative Seine Yvelines association supports businesses in financing their development through loans at 0% interest. It supports an average of 120 companies each year, with a project sustainability rate of 97%. Its “My test shop” program is linked to the economic development of the hearts of towns and villages.
After a haberdashery in Mantes-la-Jolie, a boutique centered on the world of children in Bonnières-sur-Seine and the repair workshop in Saint-Arnoult, a new boutique is in the process of being awarded to Vernouillet. A call for applications has been launched in Les Mureaux and another project is being studied in Thoiry.
Contact : www.gyrosport.fr