2015年经济学人 法国制造在法国消费者中不占主流

French consumers

Made in France, not

What a new love of shopping malls says about French society

WITH polished stone floors and a plate-glass roof, a shimmering¹ multi-storey shopping mall has just opened beside a motorway² north of Paris.

Named Qwartz, and costing 300m ($510m), it houses 165 shops and what developers call “eating concepts”.

Two other American-style shopping malls opened in the greater Paris region last year, and a third, So Ouest, in 2012.

A country that prides itself on chic³ designer boutiques and artisanal shops seems to be turning into one of mall rats.

Partly this is just catching⁴ up. Until recently, strict planning rules stopped big out-of-town shopping centres around the French capital.

Most malls that existed, such as Vélizy 2 or Rosny 2, dated from the 1970s, when five new towns were built in the Paris suburbs.

But a new relaxed attitude has now let more modern projects go ahead.

It also points to two features of French society that escape the gaze of historic Paris. One is most shoppers' suburban⁵ way of life.

Only 2.2m people live in the capital itself. Yet the greater Paris region, excluding the city,

counts over four times more inhabitants, many in small towns and car-dependent suburbs.

The new malls, ringed by car parks, are handy, even alluring⁶.

Fully⁷ 62% of the French told one poll that malls were their favourite places to shop,

ahead of the high street or traditional department stores.

The other trend is the global taste of consumers. Besides a huge French hypermarket,

Qwartz's big pull is Primark, an Irish cheap-fashion retailer⁸, and Marks & Spencer, a British chain.

Just down the road, So Ouest boasts Hollister, an American surfwear brand, Starbucks, an American coffee house,

and ubiquitous foreign fashion chains such as H&M (Swedish) and Zara (Spanish). In today's temples of consumption, global is a la mode.

This is not quite the France favoured by Arnaud Montebourg, the industry minister and architect of a “Made in France” campaign.

He is now trying to keep American hands off Alstom, the French maker⁹ of TGV fast trains.

He once posed cheerfully for a magazine, dressed in a striped Breton top and holding a Moulinex food-blender.

Yet even French brands are not always home-made, as Benjamin Carle,

a reporter, discovered filming a television documentary about his efforts to live for a year using only products made in France.

The result was comic—and sobering. Not only was it impossible to find some items, including a fridge and coffee.

Mr Carle initially¹⁰ had to empty his flat of anything that did not meet the test of 50% of its value being made in France.

Out went the bicycle, computer, guitar, most of the furniture, beer, clothes, toothbrush and more.

The share of his stuff that qualified¹¹ as French-made? Just 4.5%.

1 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

2 motorway   

n.高速公路，快车道

参考例句：

• Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
• A maniac driver sped 35 miles along the wrong side of a motorway at 110 mph.一个疯狂的司机以每小时110英里的速度在高速公路上逆行飙车35英里。

3 chic   

n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的

参考例句：

• She bought a chic little hat.她买了一顶别致的小帽子。
• The chic restaurant is patronized by many celebrities.这家时髦的饭店常有名人光顾。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

6 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

11 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。