Old Painted advertisements: shopping

Near Oviedo (Spain),
viii.1999; pict. A. Guët

Siempre a su disposición
Almacenes Al Pelayo
el comercio de Asturias

or
Always at your service
Department store Al Pelayo

Pelayo is a boy's name.
The shops disappeared in the 1970s.

Both murals again show how a brand adapts to the available space. Other examples are Cognac Martell, Gentiane Suze and Dubonnet.

There are some small differences between our two finds:

the hat became a negative
the roman type face of the statement became italic
the closing exclamation point is replaced by three dots — weakening the message. It isn't a clear statement anymore.

I'm not sure how I must read the message. It all depends of who owns the arm:
1° The shop assistant. Some old custom makes them wear a hat while on duty. But in greeting someone you raise your hat only slightly. Only on one occasion would they act as shown: when leaving. So it looks like they are telling us to come back tomorrow.

2° The shop owner. It's his warm greeting from the other side of the street and thus a bit bold. In this case it's more like an invitation.

Extra observation:
The graffiti at bottom say: Mejores no hay
Philips uses the same text.

Bottom left: The shell shows the way to Santiago. The Circulo Catolico is another classic on the Camino.

Sommery (Normandy, France);
vi.1999; pict. A. Guët

NICOLAS - fines bouteilles

Nemours (France);
v.2000; pict. M. Chartier

NICOLAS
fines bouteilles - NECTAR livreur

Rouen (France);
vi.2004; pict. Ph. Rigault

NICOLAS
fines bouteilles

Nicolas (since 1822) is the French chain specialized in wine and liquors. They have several hunderd outlets selling good wines for reasonable prizes. The fines bouteilles alludes to the millesimes, wines of superior quality which they propose with prizes up to several thousand French Francs.

The second and third wall show a different approach with many colours and several type faces. The message doesn't change though.

The history pages at their site: Nicolas' history in French and, shorter, in English (latest check: 27.iv.2024).

The second wall shows Nectar father of the Nicolas family and delivery man (livreur). Considering the number of bottles he carried in one hand, Nectar must have been very handy. He made his first appearance in 1922.

Sometimes his son Glouglou was shown helping with the bottles, but that yielded protests from well meaning people. Predictable enough, the battle was against the content of the bottles (the connection of youth and alcohol) and not against child labour as such.

Lewarde (Nord, France);
15.viii.2013; pict. H. Parmentier

NICOLAS - fines bouteilles

La Membrolle sur Choisille (France);
xii.1998

Centre commercial
Super M
de La Choisille

Cavignac (France);
xii.1997

tout le vêtement masculin
Grand Bon Marché

Don't miss the fact that the shop is located on a street corner.

Chars (D915; Val d'Oise, France);
iv.2000; pict. M. Chartier

Samaritaine
le(?) seul grand magasin de votre région

Vigo (Spain);
vii.1999

Hombres con clase
Stylmark

Gdansk (Poland); ix.1999;
pict. A. Anselin

Pewex was the name for the interior export (nice new-speak) shops where Poles could buy otherwise unobtainable goods coming from capitalist hell. Only hard currency was accepted. It was a clever communist way for getting dollars from the citizen.

Rouen (France); vi.2008;
pict. A. Birtwistle

Froger
was the name of a department store selling furniture.

The same wall is shown in Home appliances (pict. taken in yr 2004)

Quais de Saône (D433, France);
2000; pict. M. Herz

Carrefour - 35 commerces

or
Carrefour = crossroads
35 shops.

Carrefour has a website with the company's history in French and English (latest check: 27.iv.2024). Carrefour exists since 1959.

Cucq (Pas-de-Calais, France);
vii.2000; pict. A. Guët

LEROY - MERLIN

Adolphe Leroy and his wife Rose Merlin started a company Au Stock Américain in 1923. They started reselling american left-overs from the war, but soon realised the need for material for construction and home furnishing. The business became a success because of the low prices and Leroy's invention of free delivery. The company was renamed Leroy-Merlin in 1960.

Laroche - St.Cydroine
(D943, Yonne, France);
x.2000; pict. M. Chartier

Mr. Bricolage

Laroche - St.Cydroine
(D943, Yonne, France);
x.2000; pict. M. Chartier

E. Leclerc

Orléans (France); 7.vi.2011;
pict. L. Parmentier

Evlagon
Le N°1 du libre service Textiles
Vente directe aux particuliers
à prix de gros.

or
The N°1 in Textile selfservice.
Dealer's prices for private persons.

Shopping