EXPERT A hard bargain
More than just a hardware shop, the quincaillerie represents much of what Monique Jackman loves about her native France
Q
uincaillerie. This is one shop name that doesn’t give away much to a
non-francophone. It could be described as a cross between a small DIY store and a hardware shop (droguerie). Most larger DIY chains are known as bricolage, the French word for the phrase DIY, or just the shortened word brico. To me, the unmistakable
touch of a typical French shopkeeper of several generations ago lingers on in many of the quincailleries and drogueries I have been in. The one in our town is down
a narrow and short pedestrian passageway. Each morning (except for Mondays, when the shop is closed), the two staff members put out on display in front of the shop (and later take back in) a huge amount of their wares. Most of these items are on the large side, such as ladders, buckets, shopping trolleys or wheelbarrows. The shop also has a large
front window, which is crammed full – almost to the ceiling – with boxed household
An old-style local DIY shop
items and all types of gadgets you might need for your home and/or garden. As you enter the shop, you
find yourself in front of the big cash desk within a few steps; there is only enough room for three people to queue inside, and it is not unusual to see a few more customers spill onto the pavement outside.
ALADDIN’S CAVE If what you want isn't on display in the window, outside or indeed hanging all around and above the desk, you don’t go into the relatively small shop – made up of passages lined with sturdy old cupboards, shelves and drawers nearly up to the ceiling, all in various sizes – to look around for it, like my husband and I did the first couple of times we went in. There is a very good chance that what you want is not on display anyway. In our town, you need to ask
for it at the desk-cum-counter and stay there. The staff know exactly where everything is, they go straight to it, and within two or three minutes they bring it to you. Useful made-up names I have
spotted for some of the sections inside this type of shop are ‘boulonnerie’ (un boulon: a nut – as in nuts and bolts), ‘visserie’ (une vis: a screw) and ‘clouterie’ (un clou: a nail).
SMALL WONDERS There is a good-size ‘Monsieur Bricolage’ in the next town, about 6km away, and another very large DIY chain store in one of the towns about 12km away from our home, but the small quincailleries are still to be found in most towns of all sizes. I can’t help thinking that
those who run quincailleries tend to feel strongly about not
82 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2025
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Larger items are displayed outside the shop
moving with the times. In my opinion, the unmistakable touch of the original French shopkeeper is particularly evident here. For example, many of the smaller items, such as curtain rings or washers, are still kept loose in one of those
large wooden drawer chests you see in old shops. ■
Monique Jackman has written several French language books, including the Better French series, available from Amazon and other bookshops
USEFUL VOCABULARY
Une quincaillerie: hardware, ironmonger’s shop
Une droguerie: hardware store/drug store
Un quincailler/une quincaillère: ironmonger
Bricolage: DIY La peinture: paint
Un pinceau/une brosse: paintbrush Une vis: screw Un verrou: bolt
Un boulon: nut Un clou: nail Un tournevis: screwdriver Une hache: axe Une pile, une batterie: battery Un fusible: fuse Une perceuse: drill Une lampe de poche: torch Un marteau: hammer Une scie: saw Une ampule: light bulb Un outil: tool
© MONIQUE JACKMAN
© SHUTTERSTOCK
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