Marc Depireux first evokes the personal reasons which pushed him to make this choice: “On April 1, 2026, I will celebrate my forty years in the store. But for a few years, my wife has not worked by my side and I am therefore alone. I have lightened my schedule to work on my knives, at home. Then, I know that my children will not resume.”
“There is no encouraging sign”
The cutler also indicates that his work becomes more and more “hard”because of “The sad evolution of Gembloux-Center “. He explains: “This week again, we attended a big altercation which lasted more than half an hour, before the arrival of the police. We saw it every day.” The merchant deplores, in his words, the “Non-reactivity of the communal college” at this level. In addition, Marc Depireux emerges an AMCV study (Center-city management association) dating from February 2025, demonstrating that Gembloux is the second Walloon urban center with the most empty commercial areas, behind Verviers, which had undergone the floods of 2021. “There is no encouraging sign.”
The Gembloutois is however a positive and reassures its customers: “It will be my last clearance sale, but I did not say that I completely stopped. This weekend, we will try to destock the whole kitchen, pastry, stoves and pans. And current of next year, I will redire myself. I will continue the knives at home and I plan to refocus on animal items, like the combs to mow dogs, horses
A 50th participation
Marc Depireux is convinced: “If I have been able to hold all these years, it is thanks to customers, who come from all over Belgium.” Unfortunately, the evolution of the trade in the knife is no longer suitable for Gembloutois: “Some bring us sharpening items that they bought cheaper than the price of sharpening … and therefore find that the price is too high. Others come just to take information and then buy online or cheaper elsewhere.” A mentality that disappoints the merchant, exercising a profession of know-how, anchored in a tradition and a family legacy for four generations.
“We found photos of my great-grandfather and my grandfather at the end of the 1910s. The first store was opened in the early 1920s. I have been there since 1986. And this clearance sale that will be the fiftieth of the cutlery.”
Over half a century, the most beautiful memory of Marc Depireux will precisely remain the inauguration of the fiftieth clearance sale, in 2022, after two years of Covid. “It was really an opening between traders”.
Flea market, dancing evenings and fireworks
After the official inauguration on Thursday, place at the big weekend of the clearance sale! From August 1 to 3, the Gembloutois are invited to go to the city center to discover the good deals reserved by merchants. As usual, this 53 edition will be punctuated by other highlights. On the program: fun fair, street entertainment and outdoor dance tracks on the three evenings of the event. Without forgetting the big flea market on the avenue of the Faculty of Agronomy, the days of Saturday and Sunday, as well as the double fire fireworks, drawn both from the Parc d’Apinal and the Faculty Park, Sunday from 10:30 pm. The organizers of the UIG (Union of the Independents of Gembloux) and the AIGG (Association of independents of Gembloux-Gare) will be there.