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In the UK, it’s corner shops, bank branches, local butchers’ shops and traditional pubs that seem to be disappearing. In France, it’s the famous bistro.

They may be as synonymous with France as the croissant, but these famous establishments are fading fast.

According to the French trade union Synhorcat, within 10 years most of the country’s bistros will have been swallowed up by big chains or converted into theme bars (where have we seen that before?)

Synhorcat claims there are now 45,000 bistros in France, compared with 225,000 in 1976, and they are closing at a rate of 5,000 per year.

The French are being affected by the same changes in consumer behaviour as we are. You may remember me saying in the last newsletter that, much as I love the Internet, I worry that fewer people seem to actually talk to each other these days (see ‘your shout’) and a spokesman in France for ‘Save our Bistros’ said: “People don’t come to a bistro to talk any longer. They use an Internet and a screen. Human relations have become virtual.”

Meanwhile, strong campaigns against drink-driving and the possibility of a new law banning smoking in public are also death knells for the bistro.

The campaigns have been generally welcomed in France because they have cut the death toll on the roads. But consumption in the bistros is down and any smoking ban is likely to encourage more people to stay home.

However, not everyone is upset. Apparently, some bistro owners have converted their establishments and are coining it in from customers who want to bet on horses and watch the World Cup. Some people call that progress.

Would you be sad to see the bistro bow out?

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore
 

Thursday, June 7th, 2007