Henri is a household name in Rivière-des-Anguilles and in all the neighbouring villages of Chateau-Bénarès, Union-St-Aubin, Britannia, Batimarais, Tyack and Souillac. Henri has been to other destinations, in a subordinate capacity to serve as “commis la boutique”. Looking back, he remembers his primary schooling in Port-Louis, followed by a few years attending Bhujoharry and Neo Colleges, with a short duration. He has been working in shops in Constance, Palmar, then Port-Louis, after which, like a “nomad”, quoting him, like father like son, he landed in Chemin-Grenier. Palmar was tough as the village had only two water points which necessitated collecting water every day for cooking, washing for the shop and for the household. Sometimes, nomads make bold decisions in matters of settling for good at a place favourable for personal development. So did Henri. A major turning point it was. He took over the business of a shopkeeper on a site where anchors his present General Retailer cum Hardware Shop. In 1973.

In the 60s and 70s, the village square and main road, La Baraque, lined with some ten Chinese shops on both sides, were selling basically foodstuffs. Henri chose the same range of items, and liquor. Labourers from the sugar camps and villages were buying on credit and Henri cut his share of the clientele through a home delivery service which he still offers today. He could be the last Mohicans of the Chinese community, the rest having ceased business and moved to other places. Not that he is surviving presently, he has a solid number of regular customers whom he serves well. They like him.

With time, there has been a paradigm shift in the retail of foodstuff business. Gradually, local self-service stores and supermarkets have mushroomed and giant shopping centres have emerged in the districts. With his business acumen, not studied in academia but naturally groomed, Henri envisaged an alternative line of items for sale. He would go into hardware, thus transforming the shop into a ‘ready to sell’ any item required in the construction sector. After all, the Voluntary Retirement Scheme of the Sugar Industry has opened the way for the construction of houses in a host of morcellements. Former artisans and labourers were becoming owners of houses to their taste.

Henri had them in his shop turned to hardware. Today, he maintains the paraphernalia that each client seems to require. If you step up a flight of the stone, you are face to face, if not nose to face, with a confusion of objects piled one on top of the other or squeezed side by side. But lo! Henri can proprietarily feel his feet on each quarter of the floor with his bare feet. What is there? Name it: water pipes, taps, basins, polyethylene rope, nylon poly rope, hammers and nails, pockets of cement and other building materials, electrical appliances, garden tools, jigsaw, adhesives, work gloves, tapes, locks and keys, chicken feed and gas cylinders. You want more, you have it. He knows by heart the size, length and usefulness of each item. If the item is out of stock, Henri will drive his van to make the delivery the following day. He knows every nook and corner of each village and morcellement. There is mutual trust to say the least between his customers and himself, a paragon of patience to satisfy the most fastidious buyer.

Lately, there has been a change in the sales organisation. Henri has transformed his van into a mobile office. He keeps his orders so he is up to date all the time. The image of Henri’s shop front elevation will become, if it has not yet, legendary in the social landscape of Rivière-des-Anguilles. The familiar name of Henri will survive for long, as the young generation has this address in mind when they are sure to have an item now or tomorrow

Henri has achieved a fame which is unique, undisputable and legitimate.