Brussels’ last newspaper stand is set to disappear on 31 December. Newspaper booths or kiosks used to be a regular sight in the Belgian and Flemish capital but become a definite thing of the past at the end of the year. It’s where people on their way to work picked up a newspaper or magazine, but today with the demise of newsprint earnings are down and nobody wants to work in such tiny confines.
The capital’s last newspaper booth stands on the upmarket Gulden-Vlieslaan, but after 38 years on the job newsagent Paul is now up for retirement. As nobody has come forward to replace him, the booth is heading for the scrapyard.
In recent years more and more people running newspaper stands decided to call it a day. Some were obliged to shut down shop. Others decided of their own accord because the takings had become so meagre. The booth on the rotunda of the Gunden-Vlieslaan and Louisalaan is the last of its kind. It’s a silent reminder of the 52 booths that Brussels boasted in the heyday of printed news. AMP, the company that runs the booth, failed in its bid to find a successor to Paul and has decided to give up the site.
The people of Brussels shouldn’t count on any other booths appearing on their streets any time soon. In 2018 the City of Brussels went in search of people willing to run booths on the Jean Reyplein and the Agoraplein. AMP was the only company to apply, but because it couldn’t find the staff the booths never opened.