Activist · President · Author · Marignane
Martine
Donnette
Retailer · Founder of En Toute Franchise

Born in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine), Martine Donnette is a former franchisee who, after losing her Phildar store in Vitrolles to the practices of big-box retailers, has dedicated her life to defending the rights of independent retailers. From her 10-square-meter trailer to the presidency of a national association, her journey embodies tenacious and exemplary resilience.

418 Milliards En Toute Franchise Association Founding President Defense of Retailers Commercial Law
Key Figures
1985
Opening of her Phildar store in Vitrolles
1994
Founding of the En Toute Franchise association
1,500
Association members
35
Departments covered by the association
Career & Struggles
1985
Opening of the Phildar store — Vitrolles, Bouches-du-Rhône
Martine Donnette fulfilled her dream by opening a yarn store in the shopping mall of a Carrefour hypermarket in Vitrolles. She even broke the record for the world’s longest knitted scarf: 247 meters.
1988–1991
Eviction and financial ruin — Carrefour Shopping Center, Vitrolles
During the expansion of the shopping center, Carrefour forced the store to relocate and doubled the rent. The store went into bankruptcy. Martine and her husband found themselves living in a 10-square-meter trailer for fourteen years.
1994
Founding of the En Toute Franchise association

From her trailer, Martine Donnette founded the organization En Toute Franchise with her partner Claude Diot. She studied commercial law, urban planning, and criminal procedure, and embarked on a nationwide legal battle.
For 30 Years
A National Campaign — Across All of France
She travels the length and breadth of France, covering 40,000 km a year, and has rallied hundreds of small business owners. Out of 250 legal cases filed, the association has won 50—preventing illegal construction and unauthorized expansion by large retail chains.
Today
Retired activist — Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône
With a monthly pension of 585 euros, Martine Donnette continues her fight from her garage—converted into an office and lined with files from floor to ceiling. She advocates for a collective debate on the kind of society we want to build.
Published Works
Autobiographical Account · 2015
Alone Against the Giants
Martine Donnette — Éditions Max Milo

Martine Donnette’s first memoir, this book powerfully and sincerely recounts the story of a “common woman” who, evicted from her shop and left destitute, refuses to give up. At age 47, living in a municipal campground trailer, she decides to fight those responsible for her downfall: the big retail chains. For thirty years, she traveled across France to rally hundreds of small business owners driven out by the unfair policies of big-box stores, waging one lawsuit after another. 

This story is dedicated to the “hundreds of thousands of small business owners who have disappeared from the French landscape since the 1960s.”

Personal Accounts · Large-Scale Retail · Local Retail · Justice · Biography · Resistance
Documentary Essay · 2021
418 Billion
Martine Donnette, Claude Diot, Patrick Pasin — Éditions Novi Mondi

The result of more than twenty-five years of advocacy by the association En Toute Franchise, this book reveals the unthinkable: millions of square meters operated entirely illegally by big-box retailers—without administrative authorization, sometimes on land zoned as non-buildable—and with complete impunity, with the alleged complicity of elected officials and the government. The fines owed are estimated to amount to hundreds of billions of euros. This is an urgent call to open a collective debate on the kind of society we are building without even realizing it. Bruno Le Maire himself has described the situation as a “scandal.”

Fraud, Illegality, Political Complicity, Urban Planning, Retail, Environment
Areas of Action & Expertise
Commercial Law
Self-taught, she has a thorough grasp of the Commercial Code, the Urban Planning Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Penal Code. She helps hundreds of small business owners understand their rights and initiate legal proceedings.
Urban Planning & Illegality
She exposes millions of square meters of space being operated illegally by big-box retailers—without administrative authorization or with invalid permits, and sometimes on land zoned as non-buildable.

Defending Local Businesses
Over the past sixty years, France has lost 300,000 retail outlets due to large-scale retail chains. Martine Donnette is campaigning to reverse this trend and preserve the local business community.
Lobbying & Politics
She is calling on ministers and elected officials. Bruno Le Maire himself called the situation a “scandal” in a response to the association. She asks: Why do prefects refuse to enforce the law?
Agriculture & Environment
Her fight goes beyond retail alone: illegal retail spaces are undermining agriculture, industry, and the environment in an almost irreversible way. She calls for urgent collective awareness.
In Her Own Words
"
I didn’t know I’d end up reading the Commercial Code, the Urban Planning Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Penal Code. My dream was to own a yarn shop and live like any other citizen—quietly, off the proceeds of my work.
— Martine Donnette, president of the association En Toute Franchise
"
I travel 40,000 km a year—at the age of 80—to visit shop owners, follow up on procedures, and go to government ministries. The kind of society we want to live in is being decided without our knowledge.
— Martine Donnette, France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Media & Recognition
📺
Envoyé Spécial (France 2)

A report on her daily struggle against big-box retailers, featuring her garage-office lined with files—a symbol of her total dedication.
📺
France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Report titled “Martine and Claude, Retirees Fighting Against the Abuses of Big-Box Retailers,” highlighting their tireless commitment despite a retirement income of 585 euros.
📰
Le Parisien
Article featuring her “moving” testimony dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of small business owners who have disappeared from the French landscape since the 1960s.
🏛️
Ministry of the Economy — Bruno Le Maire
Official response to a letter from the association En Toute Franchise, in which the minister describes the situation as a “scandal.”