Will the new law on opening shops on Sundays change life in France? Will it lead to Americanization? Expansion of consumer culture?

Probably not, for two reasons.

First, the law is hopelessly complicated (as discussed in a previous post). It's hard to understand or to apply. Instead of freeing up the economy, the new law politicizes business decisions on store openings. Savvy businesses like Ikea that depend on Sunday shopping –that's when families are together– long ago reached a modus vivendi with employees and government; everyone's happy.

Second, the big lifestyle change already occurred. It happened when French businesses decided to stay pen during the lunch hour. This could be from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, or from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

In any case, business came to standstill for a few hours each day. Most people ate lunch at home. A few, mostly in the cities, ate at restaurants. But everyone paused at midday. Stores and businesses closed.

Today, this has changed. The culprit is urbanization: in the countryside and smaller towns, a midday break still is the norm. But in urban areas, most people eat lunch near their workplace. Many eat on-site, at cafeterias. The lunch hour is still very long –90 or 120 minutes– so people also use their lunchtime to run errands. This in turn prods businesses to stay open at midday.

The end point of the process is the sandwich shop. In Paris, these are everywhere, often with long lines at midday.