Le Courrier du pays de Retz is a French weekly regional information newspaper created in 1844 and distributed on Fridays in the Pays de Retz area, in the department of Loire-Atlantique.
The first issue of L'ÃÂcho de Paimbà Âuf, a weekly journal of literary and maritime advertisements, appeared in 1844 in Paimbà Âuf, then a sub-prefecture of Loire-Inférieure. Inspired by a bourgeoisie of commerce and shipowners, printed on site, this title expanded its distribution area at the same time as the town that saw it born declined. Composed for a long time of a simple two-sided leaflet, the newspaper asserted its local roots and gradually become the organ of expression of the entire Pays de Retz. Owned by a small family group, it ceased to appear in 1944 at about the same time as Paimboeuf fell within the Saint-Nazaire pocket.
Publication resumed from 1946 under the name: Le Courrier de Paimbà Âuf. The newspaper grew, relied on a network of local correspondents, introduced photography and, in 1970, recruited its first team of journalists and salespeople. In 1996, the title was bought by the France-Antilles group (since renamed the ). It was renamed Le Courrier du pays de Retz and left its historic birthplace to settle in Pornic, which had since become the principal town of the Pays de Retz.
In 2008, the weekly was bought by the Publihebdos press group, a subsidiary of the , with around fifteen other titles from the Hersant Media group, including ', (Guérande), ' (Châteaubriant) or ' (Vitré).
Le Courrier du pays de Retz is published on Fridays. It is distributed in all the cantons of the eponymous area (Bouaye, Bourgneuf-en-Retz, Le Pellerin, Legé, Machecoul, Paimbà Âuf, Pornic, Saint-Père-en-Retz and Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu), certain cantons of the vicinity of Nantes (Nantes, Rezé, Saint-Herblain), that of Saint-Nazaire in the vicinity of Guérande plus the town of Geneston located in the (wine-growing) area south of Nantes.