La rue principale

Still an attractive community. Although the town still has only a few shops in the main street, others have sprung up in the "Entre deux bourgs" area between St-Laurent and Bourgneuf. Craft activities have developed on the outskirts of the town.

In the 1960s, the market town of Saint-Laurent still boasted around forty shops and craft businesses (photo, main street). Epicerie Joseph Bimier (photo 1).
From the 1960s onwards, the Perrault workshops and the Grelier poultry farm created a large number of jobs.
As in most of the communes in the Mauges, a shoe factory was set up in Saint-Laurent: The Pindière workshop started in 1964 with 6 employees. It had 120 employees when it closed in 1998.

In the 1980s, on the initiative of the commune and its mayor, Joseph Grellier, small business zones were developed on either side of the town:
The Saint-Eloi zone (photo 2), on the route de Saint-Lambert, and the Bellenoue zone (photo 3), on the route de Bourgneuf.
These areas are home to a large number of companies specialising in joinery and fittings, metalwork, cabinetmaking, horticulture, car repairs, bodywork, etc.
The "Entre-deux bourgs" area (photo 4), between Bourgneuf and Saint-Laurent, has been home to new shops and services since 2010.