Thanks kerouak. I always open your posts. It's like having a friend in Paris.

Thanks, Kerouac ~~ I read your story on AnyPort, then read these comments as I was interested in what other people whose hearts are in Paris had to say.

More than the frustration and disappointment at the end, what came through in your story was the joy in the doing. I've certainly identified with what Nukesafe says above about working with the public, and it's great to be reminded that it can also be a happy experience.

I eagerly read all the great photo essays you post on AnyPort, but this story of the café with your heart and hopes tied up in it was definitely one of the best yet.

Again, thanks for a great read and the wonderful pictures.

Ditto!!

It's funny to read the current debate in the French press about whether the restaurant and café owners in France have "cheated" by not lowering their prices in line with the reduction of the VAT rate since July 1st. Even though the tax went down 14%, prices have only dropped an average of 0.5%.

I must confess that in view of this past experience, I doubt if we would have lowered our prices more than 0.5% either. It was just too much of a struggle to stay in business.

Would you agree that the real key to any restaurant's success is "consistency?"

I'm not really sure -- it is for some places, but others are successful by knowing how to shift with the times. For example, Parisians eat much faster than they used to. A place that would serve food at the same speed at 20 years ago would go out of business.

kerouac,

I just found this thread and read your story. I found myself hoping that somehow your little cafe would have beaten the odds and survived as it sounds like it was a wonderful place. I wish I could be there right now!

This sort of struggle continues all over Paris (and all over France). At the moment I am watching a café in my neighborhood that just opened. It was an Arab café that had a moment of glory in 1996 as the headquarters for the supporters of the undocumented African immigrants who had claimed asylum in the church across the street, Saint Bernard-de-la-Chapelle. It stayed open 24 hours a day until the riot squad emptied the church at dawn one day.

Then it settled into its normal "Arab café mode" with its sleepy clientele drinking Turkish coffee all day long. A couple of years ago it changed hands and was renovated but was not really different from the previous version. Then, about 4 months ago, it changed hands again and was renovated again and has reopened at a slightly "bo-bo" café called La Môme (the original title of the movie known as "La Vie en Rose" in the United States). It seems to have a rejuvenated clientele, but I can't yet tell if it is more successful.

I have noticed that the new management is really working hard. I feel sorry for them already.

Just bumping at someone's request.

Kerouac, this is deja vue all over again, my family has been in the food business since the late 1800's. Great uncle Thor competed with Geo A. Hormel, and on the Prussian side, the family was an honored supplier to the Zeppelin Line. I built food courts and a few upscale restaurants like One Market in SF. We also owned a few local restaurants; on balance, CD's would have been a far superior investment. You didn't mention "shrinkage", it is not only a problem related to retailing. I still love reading about the tiny percentage of "winners". Hope springs eternal.