Trade is slowly but surely moving away from the sacred in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. The souvenir shops that swarmed in the shadow of its majestic basilica, with their papal trinkets and other cheap icons, are disappearing one by one, giving way to a new generation of businesses that hope for no miracles from religion.
The France Marcotte family has been doing business in Sainte-Anne for half a century. This year will probably be the last: a sign “Business for sale” has been decorating the shop window for 10 days.
“It’s over, we’ve had our time,” says the friendly owner without resentment. In its displays are piled up an impressive quantity of charms of a religious and profane nature. In one corner, statuettes of haloed angels in pastel shades, very distant machined descendants of the masterpieces sculpted by Michelangelo. In another, cheap jokes and tricks, clothes sewn by little hands in Asia, moccasins, a few sweets. A customer, from time to time, comes to stroll through this bric-a-brac of counted days.
“There is a demand for that,” says Mme Marcotte. You’d be surprised how many rosaries we sell. The trade is going well, she assures, it is the succession and the energy that are lacking. “Our children do other jobs. Then there is something like a revival in the street. A small bakery has opened, a café too…”
A new breath on the Royale
Long a kingdom of religious tourism, the surroundings of the basilica are slowly but surely changing vocation. Over the past few years, family lines like that of the Marcottes, who kept the commercial heart of Avenue Royale beating for generations, have gone out of business, leaving to others, younger ones, the care of flourish business under the steeples of Sainte-Anne.
Inaugurated barely a year ago, the Apollo café stands out among the sometimes faded facades of the thoroughfare. Its black and new storefront, pierced by two large glazed garage doors through which light floods the small premises, displays a modernity that contrasts with the rest of the old Chemin du Roy.
Here, lattes and matchas have replaced the trinkets of the gift shop that once occupied the premises. Millennials come to sip the elaborately patterned coffees that baristas painstakingly draw with milk froth. Renowned for not having the Christian faith at heart, this generation is looking for organic and local products long before God, believes the young owner.
“The pope’s visit, I mean… For people our age, that doesn’t mean much,” says Gabrielle Pilotto. At 32 and new mother, this native of Sainte-Anne does not have the eye that shines at the idea that François, first of the name, wanders in a few days in front of her establishment.
She will “double or even quadruple” the size of her team to cope with the traffic, nothing more. “If we fall sold outwe fall sold out. People will go elsewhere, ”says the owner.
During the visit of To have to, her spouse, checkbook in hand, was preparing to buy premises at the corner of rue du Sanctuaire. For this large glazed building, the two cherish a project, still too embryonic to become a first in these pages, but which nevertheless has nothing to do with pilgrims and the sacred. “What we want is to offer more neighborhood life and places to our community. »
Right next to the Apollo, Annie Lévesque greets with a “Hello! » and a broad smile to the curious men and women who walk through the door of his gallery. Established in 2021 in premises that also housed a souvenir shop, Ni vu ni cornu only exhibits artists from Quebec.
“I asked them to do more spiritual works in anticipation of the event, explains Ms.me Levesque. It’s more to be in the theme than in the hope of making sales. She doubts that the believers who will come to see the Catholic sovereign will buy here. “Are the young people coming? she asks, implying the obvious answer. Me, my clientele is 20, 30 or 40 years old. I’m not sure that there will be many of them coming to mass. »
Dispute and lanterns
A few doors down from the gallery, the boutique Le temps stop welcomes its customers in dribs and drabs. As soon as a visitor crosses the threshold, the antiques dealer Claude Lords wastes no time in railing against the “papal circus” and all its “knotty”.
“Me, on the 28th, I will be closed! I don’t want to know anything, ”he promises in a formula accompanied by a few church words. Religious kitsch, very little for this man with abundant and indignant words. “I sell Murano rosaries,” he says, pointing to statues whose quality—and price—are obviously higher than elsewhere on the street.
“The street is changing. So much the better”, he says, welcoming the initiative of the youngest who are transforming the sector.
The Pope’s arrival does not disturb him in the least. “I’m a Buddhist,” he blurts out before pointing to three stacked boxes in the middle of his bazaar. Inside: rows of sealed discs titled song of peace. “A local singer asked me to distribute them for free. Isn’t that beautiful? »
Glory does not await the artist at Time Stops: Mr. Lords, visibly unmoved by the good feelings of the catechism and determined to turn his back on the Church and its leader, intends to let the records gather dust.
No one on the artery expects Pope Francis to boost turnover. “My parents told me that the day when John Paul II visited Sainte-Anne, it had not been a good day”, says Robert Marcotte, who runs one of the last souvenir shops on the street, just next door. from the one put up for sale by his cousin France, whom he met a little earlier.
Around him are spread out pell-mell magnets with the effigy of the Pope, candles to take away, medallions of Saint Anne, angels and Christs. In this buffet for religious appetites, it is above all the soft ice cream cones that find, on this scorching day, the faithful.
“The hour of retirement is approaching”, says the smiling owner of the company founded by his parents 45 years ago. The clientele has aged, a bit like him, and even if business is coming back to life after two years of pandemic, the heart is not there as before.
Even if his faith remains intact, assures Mr. Marcotte, the Catholic institution has lost luster in his eyes. “There is a difference, he distinguishes, between the good Lord and the Church. »
The pope’s visit revives at least one economy that was slowly dying out: that of lighting candles inside the basilica. “The displays are full, they often have to be changed three times a day,” explains an enthusiastic Danielle Caron, head of communications at the Sainte-Anne sanctuary. “There was a drop in enthusiasm even before the pandemic, but the visit of the pope – it is the case to say it – rekindles the flame. »