Dépanneur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dépanneur (French, from the verb dépanner, meaning "to help out of difficulty" or "troubleshoot"; often shortened to "dep") is a convenience store or independently-run corner/general store or deli in the province of Quebec, in Canada. The term is also used in French by Franco-Ontarians as well.
In Quebec, deps have a distinct air as formerly the only stores in the province permitted to sell beer and other alcoholic beverages. This is in part due to how large grocery stores were forbidden to sell any alcoholic beverages dispensed by the state monopoly Société des alcools du Québec.
In Montreal many small family-owned deps were bought out in the 1990s by Couche-Tard Inc. (French for night owl). 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). Other chains such as Mac's Convenience, Boni-Soir, and 7 Jours are also owned by the Couche-Tard conglomerate. Some family-run deps still exist, though they are in the minority.
Nowadays grocers can sell beer and/or wine. Deps continue to survive despite the recent onslaught of large grocery chains from inside and outside the province.
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 the English culture of Quebec. 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" in those years when he was an expatriate in the United Kingdom, and during his numerous return visits.
[edit] Metropolitan French
In Metropolitan French, a dépanneur is a business troubleshooter, more particularly a car breakdown or towing service, or a repairer (for example, of electrical equipment).
