“After Irma, we were all confused. Investing in a new project was for us a way to get our heads out of the water, ”says Ken Seymour, real estate agent. So with his brother Rudyart and his friend Laurent Chenier, he created Créol'Garden, a gastronomic Creole restaurant opened last August.
“I didn't want to start a business in Marigot, nothing attracted me there,” he remembers. He and his associates were looking for something unusual, or rather typically West Indian. In the center of Marigot, the buildings that they would have liked are mostly in joint ownership and despite the extent of the work to be done there, the rents are very high. It is therefore towards Grand Case that they begin by turning. But the vagaries of life mean that they will be forced to give it up.
"I prospected in Marigot and I remembered this hut where I had come fifteen years earlier" explains Ken, pointing to this building on rue Perrinon where the Créol'Garden finally took shape. Guadeloupean by origin, the 2018-something has spent most of his life in Saint-Martin. Thanks to a childhood friend he has the opportunity to rent this hut. The commercial lease is signed in mid June. The hut and its tropical garden have been in a sorry state since the hurricane passed. The three partners will need three months of intensive work. Then, they decide to open at the end of August XNUMX, at a time when many establishments are closed. Public lighting will only arrive in December and the off-center street of Marigot is neither busy nor commercial. “No one believed it, not even our best friends. We didn't give a lot of our skin ”he declares. Despite all the obstacles, the start-up was a success. The cocktail terrace with trees and strong Creole cuisine from Ken and Rudyart's brother seduces. Residents on both sides of the island have given each other the word, by word of mouth, as a secret that cannot be kept. Even tourists venture into the area to enjoy this Garden of Eden as well.
"We would have been happy to be in Grand Case but we are delighted to discover that there is an economic activity in Marigot" affirms Ken.
(More details on www.soualigapost.com)
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