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French consumers
法国消费者
Made in France, not
法国制造，真的吗？
What a new love of shopping malls says about French society
购物中心的新宠如何评价法国社会
WITH polished stone floors and a plate-glass roof, a shimmering multi-storey shopping mall has just opened beside a motorway 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 chic designer boutiques and artisanal shops seems to be turning into one of mall rats.
一个带有抛光的石质地板和平面屋顶、闪闪发亮的多层购物中心刚刚在巴黎北边的高速公路旁开业。这个名叫Qwartz的购物中心，斥资30亿欧元（约合51亿美元），拥有165家商铺，并且正在发展“饮食理念”。另外两家美式风格的购物中心去年在大巴黎地区开业，第三家名为So Ouest的购物中心于2012年开业。一个以时尚设计精品店和手工店为傲的国家如今似乎正向繁多的购物街转变。
Partly this is just catching 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.
这种现象的一部分原因是赶时髦。截至最近，法国首都严格的计划规则将大型外来购物中心拒之门外。大多数像Vélizy 2 或 Rosny 2那样的购物街是从上世纪70年代就在巴黎存在了，那时正值巴黎城郊新建了五个小镇。但是一个新的随意态度让更多现代项目得以进行。
It also points to two features of French society that escape the gaze of historic Paris. One is most shoppers' suburban 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 alluring. Fully 62% of the French told one poll that malls were their favourite places to shop, ahead of the high street or traditional department stores.
这也表明了法国社会常被历史悠久的巴黎忽视的两个特点。一个是大多数购物者的郊区生活方式。只有220万人住在首都里。但是大巴黎地区，不包括城区，居民超过首都四倍，其中很多人住在小城镇和以汽车代步的郊区。新型购物中心被停车位环绕，非常方便，甚至非常有吸引力。足足有62%的法国人在一项民意调查中透露相比正统商业街和传统百货商店，购物中心是他们购物的最爱。
The other trend is the global taste of consumers. Besides a huge French hypermarket, Qwartz's big pull is Primark, an Irish cheap-fashion retailer, 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.
另一个流行趋势是全球顾客的品味。除了一个大型法国大规模超级市场，Qwartz主要是由爱尔兰的廉价流行零售店Primark和英国连锁Marks & Spencer来支撑。在So Ouest 购物中心的尽头，充斥着美国冲浪服品牌Hollister和美国咖啡屋Starbucks，还有无处不在的外国流行连锁店如H&M（瑞典），还有Zara（西班牙）。在如今消费圣殿里，全球化正大行其道。
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 maker of TGV fast trains. He once posed cheerfully for a magazine, dressed in a striped Breton top and holding a Moulinex food-blender.
这种潮流并未让推崇法国的工业部长阿诺·蒙特布格退却，他还要策划“法国制造”运动。现在他正努力阻止美国插手TGV高速货车制造商Alstom。他还曾身着布列塔尼上衣、手举万能牌食物搅拌器容光焕发地登上一本杂志。
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 initially 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 qualified as French-made? Just 4.5%.
但正如记者本杰明·卡尔拍摄的电视纪录探索片讲述的一样，即使是法国品牌也不一定是法国制造。这部片子是记录他只用法国制造的商品生活的一年。结果很有趣也很严峻。不仅仅是因为法国没有制造像冰箱和咖啡这样的商品。卡尔最初还必须清空他的公寓，因为没有东西符合“法国制造”的测试要求，即价值的至少一半要是法国制造。除了自行车、电脑。吉他，大多家具、啤酒、衣物、牙刷等等都不是法国制造。他的东西有多少符合法国制造的定义呢？只有4.5%。译者：邵夏沁 校对：张丹
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