Hi Pierre,
back in 1990, the idea was already in the air. I, for one, was very interested in it as were a number of “small” shops. Meetings were organized at the time but the whole thing never got anywhere: some were bigger than others and they already had special arrangements with material importers. They were not very keen to have everybody benefit from those… Although it would have been quite simple to come up with a system where those who used the more materials would have paid less than others. It was not quite hard to put up a shapers association that would have become the importer itself. But tensions between individuals (no names here) led to the whole thing collapsing.
A few years later (around 2000 or so), the ASA (Artisans Shapers d’Aquitaine/Aquitaine’s Craftsmen Shapers?) was born on a similar idea. I was part of it at the time. I think you have heard about it, Pierre, haven’t you? Some actions were undertaken (mainly raising money from various sources to finance a common large stand at the “Glissexpo” trade show) but then, as usual, everybody started going his own way and look at what the ASA is today: not sure whether it still exists or not…
Shapers can be even worse than surfers as a group…