agreste

Agreste cahiers n° 41 - septembre 1999

The number of local shops dropped sharply between 1979 and 1998, as a result of the competition from supermarkets and larger retail stores.

The number of local shops dropped sharply between 1979 and 1998, as a result of the competition from supermarkets and larger retail stores. In 1998, nearly 20,000 towns did not have any neighbourhood store. But for most of them, the corresponding products were nevertheless available thanks to the existence of one substitute service or more. Bread service was the most commonly available, followed by frozen food service. Meat supply was less ordinary, grocery even less. However, substitute services were also growing scarce, especially in communes which never had a shop or lost their shops long ago. Mobile business is leader to compensate for the absence of shops, but there are also « multiservice » stores, with a function of grocery store as well as bread outlet, in a good many towns of over 500 inhabitants. In 1998, most users are satisfied with the substitute services at their disposal, especially in rural areas where stores are generally more remote.