Ker-ching becomes ker-plunk

Economies all over the world are doing crazy things, or having crazy things done to them. Debt levels in Europe are sky-high. Unemployment in the USA is rising. Productivity is faltering everywhere. Australia is not immune to the rising tide of disquiet.

This can be seen in my own local 'high street'. I live in Paddington, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which are considered well-heeled. Our main shopping street is one of those old-fashioned ribbon-developments which seem to stretch on for miles. Populated by small often one-off boutiques, what economists love to call SMEs (small to medium enterprises).


Some shops seem to be prospering, whilst others go to the wall. Look at the number of 'for-sale' and 'for-lease' signs in these last three photographs, all taken during the last six months, indeed the large one taken last week. And this in an economy where our public debt is low, when compared with Greece, the UK, France, and the USA.

Shoppers are spending on essentials, and paying down debt instead of splashing out. What discretionary spending there is, is now occurring at the local mall, which is big and modern and trashy, stocking cheaper items. When we all change our spending pattern at the same time, there is not enough people buying to keep the economic cycle chugging along.


This post is part of the Signs Signs community.

Bricks'n'mortar or virtual?

Bookshops in Australia are closing their doors quite rapidly if I believe everything I read. A major chain (Borders/Angus&Robertson) has gone into receivership. And, many suburban shops cannot compete with online and supermarket prices.

I do a mix of both. When it is a specific title, I will often source it online. When I am browsing, I still purchase in store. I shop at Dymocks in the CBD, here at Berkelouw, and across the road in Ariel Bookshop. I used to buy from The Book Depository, but they were taken over by Amazon. So, I swapped to Fishpond. I have to be careful what I choose. If the book is cheaper because they have used inferior ink on inferior paper, causing the print to 'bleed', I find the book too hard to read. If they shrink the font size and reduce the white space, equally I find it hard to read.

I know that is how they reduce the prices, so I am prepared to pay to enable me to check that I can actually read the book.

Yellow shoes

In 1968 at Newcastle Teachers' College, on the old Merewether campus, there was a particularly good music appreciation teacher. One thing is bright and shiney 'til this day. He rabbited on about notes and scales and octaves and other probably relevant stuff. A bulb lit up above my noggin: well then, music is finite. Given all these inputs, there will come a day when it will be impossible to write a new piece of music. A slight smyrk appeared at the corner of his mouth, 'Well, no Julie, not quite' and on he went to explain, as he played Handel's 'Water Music'.

Colour is a bit like that. When I was a kid, I am sure this green/lime/olive had not been discovered/invented/mixed. My childhood was a ROYGBIV world.

Powell's Building (1880), Oxford Street Paddington, opposite Victoria Barracks.

Possibly not Tiffany's

I quite like this 'chain' of stores: there is another shop further down Oxford Street opposite the Verona Cinemas, whereas this shop is in the grounds of the Saturday Paddo Market.

They stock jewellery made from coloured stones and beaten metal from around the world. Jewellery that costs a lot but isn't worth much, if you know what I mean. The name is pretty cute, too.

Just William

What better to do with your Saturday afternoon, than huddle around a chocolate shop in William Street in Paddington.

'Just William' instantly transports me back to my childhood when maiden aunts gave me books for festive days; books like the Just William series about the English school-boy, William Brown. The first book was published in 1921, being written by Richmal Brown, and illustrated by Thomas Henry. More of a contrast with the Harry Potter series it would be hard to find.


Don't just drool against the glass panes: name your poison. What will you have? Hard centres or soft. Truffles, pralines or ganache. Or maybe you would prefer Turkish Delight, or Rocky Road or chocolate coated licorice. Ah, but how about the 'big daddee' of them all: the Gold Gift box, weighing in at 3.5kgs, containing 225 chockies and making your back pocket lighter to the tune of a mere $500.

Go on! You know you want to.

Today, on A Pied Dans Les Rues de Paris, I feature two Parisian chocolate shops.

The Ruby Slipper

Tapping my way around through Five Ways, I pay heed to the uneven footpath and the shards of old building materials that litter the way. The path that I know so well during the day, presents challenges in the evening, for me and my walking cane. But the flower shop is not far down, just over a bit of a rise, and around a slight curve.

Ici et là - The bottle shop

'Here & There' is a Wednesday series dedicated to shops. The 'here' is the area around Paddington. The 'there' is generally La Rive Gauche de Paris, especially the single-digit arrondissements. I am interested in how people live, not in retailing per se.

Oxford Street, East Sydney (Adult shop next door is a clue to this location)

In Sydney, bottled alcohol is sold in stand-alone bottle shops, bottle sections within large supermarkets, or bottle shops attached to hotels. Our hotels are similar to English pubs.

Cellar, Rue Bourgogne, 7eme, Paris

In Paris, bottled alcohol is sold through bottle shops called 'caves' which translates as 'cellar'. I think their equivalent of our pub/hotel, is the neighbourhood bar/cafe, although I do not think many bottles are sold through bars for take home consumption. Yeah, yeah, the car is what is known in the trade as 'an added bonus'.

Ocean Street, Woollahra

Nomenclature is interesting here. We call them bottle shops. We call them grog shops. And we also call them a bottle-o. There are a few chains of very large warehouse-size bottle shops, but these are usually owned by either of the two large supermarket chains.

Oxford Street, East Sydney

Ici et là - The baker

'Here & There' is a Wednesday series dedicated to shops. Be it known that retail outlets in malls will NEVER qualify. The 'here' is the area around Paddington. The 'there' is generally La Rive Gauche de Paris, especially the single-digit arrondissements. I am interested in how people live, not in retailing per se.


In Paddington, and the broader Eastern Suburbs, we are dedicated to the grained loaf (what the French call 'un pain') or to variations upon the sourdough loaf. The ratio of core to crust is just sooo different, and here at home, I would not be caught dead eating white bread. 'Sonoma' is a bourgeoning bakery which has taken hold of the attention of the good burghers in the East and the Inner West of Sydney.


For mine, there are two loci in the French psyche: the coffee shop and the bakery. I find it astounding to wander the streets of a neighbourhood where people queue three times a day to buy white bread - white bread with as much crust as there is core. The French are besotted with the baguette, and I became likewise. 'Une baguette tradition, Madame, SVP' was my clarion call each morning. I would shove the baguette into a pocket in my caddie, with a bottle of water in the other pocket, take the metro to my destination du jour, sit on a parkbench in the sun, and munch 'til my heart's content.