The Brussels region boasts 10 per cent fewer shops than only a decade ago. Hospitality is partly filling the empty spaces, but observers fear for the diversity on offer to consumers. The disappearance of bookshops in the Bortiergalerij highlights the problem: small independent shops are struggling.
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Is hamburgerisation sounding the death knell for the Brussels high-street?
Colin Clapson
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In the Bortiergalerij, traditional bookstores have to make way for trendy food outlets. A fish shop, a butcher's, a beer store and a wine seller’s are all materialising. The City of Brussels' plans also envisage a flower shop, an art café and possibly a record store in the gallery. Thierry Goor, known for the successful food market Wolf, is said to be setting the pace.
The new plans do not meet with universal understanding. "For the City it has to be more mundane, more bling-bling," complains Philippe Capart of bookshop and publisher’s Crypte Tonique.
"There will be stores like a butcher’s and a baker’s. We understand the reaction from the booksellers," responds Brussels Mayor Philippe Close (Francophone socialist/PS). "But what are we supposed to do if they keep on going bankrupt?"
The problem is not only concentrated on this famous gallery of booksellers. Over a thousand shops have disappeared in the Brussels region since 2013: from 9,704 down to 8,700. In the City of Brussels, the number of shops fell by 12 per cent, and in Elsene even by 17 per cent over ten years.
The pandemic obviously hit high-street shops hard, but it does not explain everything. The big turnaround was already noticeable before the pandemic. Independent boutiques succumbed to competition from shopping centres and online stores.
In the City of Brussels the number of empty premises rose by 57 per cent between 2013 and 2023. Today they represent around 13 per cent of all commercial properties.
Hospitality outlets
The high-street is also experiencing another trend. If there are fewer regular stores, many vacant lots are being filled by new hospitality outlets. While there are fewer and fewer clothing stores, electrical and other retail shops on the high street, more and more hospitality outlets like coffee bars and fast-food restaurants are opening. Since 2013, the number of hospitality businesses increased by 3 per cent, to 5,679 premises.
The Bortiergalerij may not become a food market any day soon, but here too everything will soon revolve around food and drink. Researcher Philippe Eiselein of the Odisee University of Applied Sciences sees the fate of the Bortiergalerij as a sign of a changed consumer pattern. "Physical bookstores are a dying breed. More and more purchases are being made online. There is also a trend that consumers, especially young people, no longer just want a product, but want an experience. That fits in much more with today's lifestyle and consumer preferences."
Hamburgerisation of the city centre
Observers fear the increasing focus on food and drink is threatening the diversity of what is on offer to consumers. In the pedestrian zone of the City of Brussels, fast-food outlets were even making such quick inroads that alderman Fabian Maingain (Brussels democrat/Défi) had to intervene to counter the "hamburgerisation" of the city centre. This is a trend that over the past decade has also manifested itself in other major cities.
A good mix of shops and restaurants, where there is also diversity in what is on offer to consumers, that should be the objective, professional organisations such as the Federation of Brussel Hospitality and academic experts say.