Monday, November 13, 2006
Slow Demise of the Kiosk..
One of the things I always cursed about Germany was the lack of shops open evenings and on Sundays... when I first moved here all shops shut at 5.30 pm on weekdays, were only open till noon on Saturdays, and Sundays if you needed a pint of milk, well, forget it!
The only things open were little one-room kiosks, which mostly catered to alcohaulics, it seems, but you could get juice and the odd tinned soup and (if you were on your way to a party, or intended to have one at home) wine. There are two of these places just a few yards from my apartment, and I counted about a dozen within 200 yards of my front door.
But Germany is liberalising, up to a point-- the shops can now stay open until 8 pm, and on Saturdays too, but Sunday is still sacrosanct.
I haven't been to the kiosk in a while (mostly due to the new liberalisation) but went just now because I had been teaching and by the time I finished it was after 8-- and I realized that the kiosks are doomed. My nearest place, which has always had a lively clientele, and had always had a great selection of wines and spirits, has become dingy and empty. They had ONE kind of wine, and a few tins of unidentifiable vegetables, and some mass-market magazines, and a fridge full of beer... and that was it. The owner, who I had known as a popular and cheerful young man, has become quiet and fearful. His arch-rival, the Greek across the street, doesn't even bother to stay open in the evenings.
This means that the end is neigh, I predict that within a year there will be not 12 but 2 or 3 kiosks in my neighborhood.
The only things open were little one-room kiosks, which mostly catered to alcohaulics, it seems, but you could get juice and the odd tinned soup and (if you were on your way to a party, or intended to have one at home) wine. There are two of these places just a few yards from my apartment, and I counted about a dozen within 200 yards of my front door.
But Germany is liberalising, up to a point-- the shops can now stay open until 8 pm, and on Saturdays too, but Sunday is still sacrosanct.
I haven't been to the kiosk in a while (mostly due to the new liberalisation) but went just now because I had been teaching and by the time I finished it was after 8-- and I realized that the kiosks are doomed. My nearest place, which has always had a lively clientele, and had always had a great selection of wines and spirits, has become dingy and empty. They had ONE kind of wine, and a few tins of unidentifiable vegetables, and some mass-market magazines, and a fridge full of beer... and that was it. The owner, who I had known as a popular and cheerful young man, has become quiet and fearful. His arch-rival, the Greek across the street, doesn't even bother to stay open in the evenings.
This means that the end is neigh, I predict that within a year there will be not 12 but 2 or 3 kiosks in my neighborhood.
# posted by vailian : 8:45 PM
