A dépanneur (from the French verb dépanner, meaning "to help out of difficulty" or "troubleshoot"; often shortened to "dep") is a convenience store, usually part of a chain, or an independently-run corner shop, general store or deli, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A convenience store is a small store or shop. They are often located alongside busy roads or at gas/petrol stations. "Corner shop" redirects here For the British band see Cornershop. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The term is also used in French by Franco-Ontarians. Franco-Ontarians (franco-ontarien are French Canadian or Francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario.
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The term
The term "dépanneur" was once restricted to French-speaking environments; however, over the years it spread to the English-speaking communities and became part of Quebec English and the English culture of Quebec. Quebec English is the common term for the set of various linguistic and social phenomena affecting the use of English in the predominantly French -speaking The culture of Quebec is a Western culture that is rooted in the history and society of the French -speaking majority The noted English-language author and Montreal novelist Mordecai Richler used to refer in jest to the London luxury grocer Harrods as "my local dépanneur" during his years in the United Kingdom, and his numerous return visits there. Mordecai Richler ( January 27, 1931 &ndash July 3, 2001) was a Canadian author Academy Award -nominated screenwriter and London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Harrods is a Department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
History and context
In Quebec, deps have a unique history because they used to be the only non-state stores in the province permitted to sell both beer and other alcoholic beverages, a situation which lasted until the 1990s. Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed Alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea Supermarkets were forbidden to sell any alcoholic beverages other than beer, in order to eliminate competition with the state monopoly Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good In Economics, government monopoly (or public monopoly) is a form of Coercive monopoly in which a Government agency is the sole provider of a The Société des alcools du Québec ( English: Quebec Alcohol Corporation) often abbreviated and referred to as SAQ, is a provincial Crown A very small selection of cheap wines available at the corner shop were, and in some cases still are, sarcastically referred to as "Cuvée dépanneur. Cuvée (or Cuvee on some English language labels is a French Wine term derived from cuve, meaning Vat or Tank. " A change in licensing laws (as well as an overhaul of the SAQ) introduced an expanded selection of wines to both depanneurs and grocery stores, although the SAQ retains control over the majority of quality wines, spirits and hard liquor. In 2007, a limited number of vodkas became available in grocery stores, but not dépanneurs. Vodka is one of the world's most popular Distilled beverages It is a clear liquid which consists of mostly Water and Ethanol purified by Distillation
In contrast, in most other Canadian provinces, convenience stores are not permitted to sell alcoholic beverages at all, and in some cases the sales of beer, wines and spirits are divided between different specialty provincial chains, such as The Beer Store and LCBO in Ontario. The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Brewers Retail Inc founded in 1927 is a privately owned chain of retail outlets in Ontario, Canada, that operates as The Beer Store. Pricing While it is impossible to generalize comparative pricing for the thousands of different alcoholic beverages available through LCBO the stores have acquired a reputation for
Chains vs independent stores
In Montreal many small family-owned deps and smaller chains were bought out in the 1990s by Couche-Tard Inc. (French for "goes to bed late"). Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc ( ("Couche-Tard" means "goes to bed late" in French) is the largest Canadian Convenience store retailer operating It gained a virtual monopoly after it bought out the Provi-Soir brand name, a franchise with a winking owl as part of its logo (now part of the Couche-Tard logo); Provi-Soir had previously purchased the competing Perrette chain in the late 1980s. Today, the Mac's Convenience, Boni-Soir, 7 Jours and American Circle K chains are all owned by the ever-expanding Couche-Tard conglomerate. Circle K is a international chain of Convenience stores originally founded in 1951 in El Paso Texas.
Family-run depanneurs now tend to cater to the needs of their neighborhoods. In several Montreal districts, smaller deps serve immigrant populations, offering specialty foods and discount long-distance cards alongside the usual convenience-store fare. Many offer faxing, photocopying, Canada Post services, Western Union money transfers and occasionally Internet access. Canada Post Corporation ( Société canadienne des postes) is the Canadian postal operator operated as a crown corporation. The Western Union Company ( is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Internet access refers to the means by which users connect to the Internet. Most offer free local delivery of groceries; many use bicycle deliverymen who ride three-wheeled cycles with an attached cart, similar to the Dutch Bakfiets freight bicycle. Freight bicycles, carrier cycles, freight Tricycles or cargo bikes' are Human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically
Because of the tendency of most convenience stores to become cluttered (to the point where their windows become a solid wall of advertising placards and neon), the Couche-Tard company experimented with creating a new, fresh, bright, and clean concept called "Store 2000. " Several deps with wider layouts, brighter lighting, idiosyncratic modern décor, and often, cafés and Subway sandwich franchises were launched to a good degree of success, and the results were integrated into an ongoing program of upgrades for the regular stores. Subway Restaurants, commonly known as Subway, is a Fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells Sandwiches and Salads called
Deps continue to survive despite the recent onslaught of large grocery chains from inside and outside the province. This is a list of Supermarkets, past and present whether under the parent corporation's name or another name
Metropolitan French
In Metropolitan French, a dépanneur is a business troubleshooter, more specifically a car breakdown or towing service, or a general fix-it man (for example, of electrical equipment). French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to Troubleshooting is a form of Problem solving. It is the systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved The term is occasionally used in this sense in Quebec.
See also
External links
Quebec French ( le français québécois, le français du Québec) or less often Québécois French, is the predominant varietiesDictionary
dépanneur
-noun
- (Canada)(Quebecer, Ontarian) A convenience store, especially one that sells alcohol.
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