The character of the streets in any Paris neighbourhood owes a lot to the variety of small, independent shops and businesses; everyday trades or peculiar specialisms, long established business or new start ups.
Retoucheries are commonplace – every neighbourhood seems to have one – but they vary widely in style.
Horologeries are becoming something of a rarity as fewer people have clocks to repair.
Names of traditional trades often don’t translate exactly from French to English. Menuiserie is carpentry or joinery, ebenistierie translates as cabinet-making but agencement is a general term that means layout or arranging. On a traditional British woodworker’s shop (if any still exist outside of museums) you might expect to see ‘shopfitters’ but that’s a trade that doesn’t seem to translate to French.
This (former?) sponges and chamois leather shop isn’t described as an épongerie or chamoiserie but I guess that’s because the trader supplied rather than processed the sponges and polishing cloths. It’s not clear what’s behind this rather battered door now and the entry phones don’t give any clues. It looks like an elaborately swagged curtain behind the obscure glass but could it possibly be a display of fine chamois leathers?
A post for Thursday Doors.
(Click on any photo for a closer look. Unfortunately you won’t get much extra detail by zooming in as my good camera is still with the repairers)
February 9, 2018 at 4:21 am
enjoyed each picture and liked learning (thx) – like “agencement is a general term that means layout or arranging…”
and thanks for musing with us on that last door – now I am super curious about the curtains….
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February 9, 2018 at 6:17 am
Am noticing that several stores do not “present” their products – is it against burglarly?
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February 9, 2018 at 8:18 am
Most stores have shutters – either traditional wooden ones or metal roller shutters – for when they’re closed so I doubt if that’s a reason for lack of window displays. In the case of the woodworker’s shop, I guess the premises is no longer used as a shop window, just for storage.
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February 9, 2018 at 8:51 am
You may very well be right – I keep forgetting that Europe does not have the multiple storage units like the Stats has. Thank you for the explanation!
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February 9, 2018 at 9:05 am
The way that trades of all sorts have a ‘shop front’ is a characteristic of Paris streets and (from my limited experience) true of small town France too. In Britain a trader who’s selling a service rather than a product would be more likely to be based in a shed on the edge of town. It’s probably something to do with planning rules or business rates.
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February 9, 2018 at 3:53 pm
That Horlogerie is quite something….
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February 9, 2018 at 4:03 pm
If I’d taken a video instead of a still photo you’d have been able to see the big skeleton clock on the right ticking…
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February 9, 2018 at 8:37 pm
Even better.
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February 10, 2018 at 12:43 am
I always wonder how those small businesses survive nowadays. nice collection of shop windows.
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February 10, 2018 at 1:40 pm
I guess that while the the internet takes trade away from some shops it may help people find surviving specialists.
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