This is a former warehouse acquired by Louis Vernières in the 1920s, which was used to store metallurgical products.
The « Etablissements Métallurgiques Louis Vernières »were the exclusive distributor for Usinor for construction and public works companies in south-west France, from La Rochelle to Perpignan.
Louis Vernières, He set his sights on Bordeaux and, without a penny to his name, borrowed and gradually bought buildings, land and sheds in La Bastide from 1920 to 1960.
This hangar was therefore part of the real estate holdings of the Etablissements Vernières.
Initially, the business focused on iron trading. But then, Louis Vernières diversified into hardware, household appliances and gas. His son, André Vernières, took over and further developed the company by creating a hardware store covering more than 2,000 m2.
The Vernières facilities had its heyday in the 1970s; the company had around 200 employees and every Bastide family had at least one member working for the Vernières establishments.
Even today, some former employees still live at La Bastide.
When the founder died, the company was taken over by André Vernières, grandfather of the current owner.
The latter kept the business going at all costs before the steel crisis hit in the 1980s, when the Chinese had already flooded the French steel market.
At the end of the 1980s, this competition contributed to the weakening and eventual collapse of this emblematic Bastide business, which had contributed to the prosperity of the area and its residents for 60 years.