The French town of Romans-sur-Isere is inviting visitors to sleep at work, or to be more precise, where work used to be. It’s sponsored the conversion of several former custom shoemakers’ shops into self-catering apartments.
The project is called BedInShop, a scheme aimed at regenerating the town’s medieval center, formerly the capital of luxury shoemaking in France, turning out luxury shoes, many hand-made, for such names as Charles Jourdan and Christian Dior. Many of the shops and small factories closed when production moved to areas of the world where costs were lower.
BedinShop founder François-Xavier Chambost says “I was walking along streets that had been buzzing with shoppers when I was a child, and I saw young people fighting, piles of old wooden pallets and empty shops. I wondered if the youths could be taught to make furniture from the pallets that we could then use in shops converted to overnight accommodation.”
La Tannerie, seen above, is one of the first. Many artifacts of the former business give the place a special atmosphere, but behind it an inviting living room leads up several steps to comfortable sleeping quarters. A kitchenette and a modern shower room complete the picture. Rents run to €75 per night.
