POISSONNERIE MORONI

The oldest fishmonger in the Rhône-Alpes region, originally "Poissonnerie Léonidas", has just celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Louise, the founder, now retired, says: "I followed my father, my daughter followed me and my grandson follows.....".

The story begins at the turn of the century, in the 1920s, when Edmond Léonidas and his wife left the capital to settle in the village of Fontaine.
They soon opened a grocery store in Fontainades, where residents could buy all kinds of "edibles", including fish. Their daughter Louise, who wanted to develop the fish department, left to apprentice with "Delphin". In 1946, at just twenty years of age, she was not yet of age. Her parents emancipated her, and she opened the "Poissonnerie Léonidas".
She worked hard to succeed: "I went to Grenoble station at 5:30 a.m. to take delivery of the goods; the day ended when the last customer had passed through the door, at around 8:30 p.m.". Michelle was born of his marriage in 1947. In 1968, at the age of 18, Michelle came to help out: "I'd always been in this atmosphere, the business was in my blood somewhere".

In 1972, the fishmonger's shop was revamped and renamed "Moroni-Léonidas". in 1986, it was time for Louise to retire. At the age of 60, she longed for peace and quiet. "I wanted to sell the store, to spare my daughter the worries I'd had". But for Michelle, "there was no question of parting with the family business". The next logical step was for her to take over. The business is now called "Michelle Moroni". "From 6 o'clock in the morning, the first fish prices arrive by fax". They arrive from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Sète..... All that remains is to order the merchandise, with certain principles in mind: "As far as possible, I take French fish, which arrives directly from the port; the fillets I choose sliced by hand".

In the early 90s, Michelle was faced with a crisis and a drop in customers. Without missing a beat, she decided to diversify: seafood platters, participation in the Autumn Fair.... An innovation that revitalized the machine, and a new clientele was formed.

Her son Frédéric, who joined her, does the markets six days a week. "Today's competition means we can't just sell. We have to offer services. They give advice, suggest recipe ideas..... "We transform products. We've gone from being shopkeepers to artisans.

And since 2003, Frédéric has left Fontaine and the markets to join Meylan.