Who are the night bosses in Rennes?

When we have a drink at the bar, we are toasting their health. In Rennes, a handful of investors share the most emblematic bars and restaurants. René Ruello, David Ozdemir, Bertrand Saint-Yves and the Dartois brothers concentrate around sixty brands in the center, generating millions of euros in turnover. Among the well-known names, we could also cite Jean-Louis Serre (Le Hibou, Bretone), or Mario Piromalli (owner, among others, of 24 McDonald’s in Ille-et-Vilaine).

Going into debt to acquire

These barons often organize themselves into one or more holding companies, which hold the shares of the businesses. Advantage: going into debt to acquire a business reduces the balance sheet of the holding company, also lowering its taxes. A strategy, however, less profitable when rates rise.

What room do they leave for new, more modest investors? The latter take up the remaining spaces by falling back on off-center businesses to cut their teeth. The mall, transformed into a rambla and with lower leases, thus saw the arrival of Jérémy Leduc and Matthieu Horeau of Grands Gamins, who have since invested in a barge-bar on the Ille.

Another challenger, the Thipthiphakone family, also burst into the market by playing the decentering game. After Whitefields (Champs-Blancs) and Avec (ZI de Chantepie), at the end of October it opened the Saint-Jacques-Café at the terminus of line B. Cheaper, less crowded and accessible by car, the area around Rennes is ideal at the afterwork. They are not the only ones to believe that the periphery is a market to conquer. David Ozdemir, discreet boss of Ty Anna, opened Club Citron last summer, a bar-restaurant-games concept located on Route de Lorient.