The waning newsstand industry

Long an integral part of Hong Kong’s urban landscape, newsstands are a familiar sight on downtown sidewalks, even the tiniest of which, sells a wide assortment of goods. The first newsstand license was issued by the Government of Hong Kong way back in 1904, when South China Morning Post established a newsstand outside Central Peak Tram Lower Terminus, selling mainly newspapers. Licenses can be passed on from generation to generation, and many have already remained in the same family for two or three generations, developing countless small family businesses.

The government’s decision to cease issuing fixed-licenses to newsstands in 2000, in addition to the rise of convenience stores, fashionable shopping districts and the distribution of free newspapers over the past few years, has meant that many newsstands are now either unable to secure a location to set up, or have found themselves unable to compete. One by one, newsstands are vanishing from our streets, their numbers falling from 2,800 in the newsstand heyday, to around just 400 or so today.

In 2009, Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department authorized the sale of 12 kinds of items at newsstands; therefore, in addition to newspapers, books and cigarettes, newsstands can now also sell bottled water, phone cards and other ornaments. Though newsstands now resemble small convenience stores, business is nonetheless steadily declining. Despite a diminishing presence on the streets, newsstands are still a microcosm of social change, and reflect the hardworking spirit of working class people in Hong Kong.

The waning newsstand industry 

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/301253

(以下是中文對照)

人行道沒落行業

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在香港鬧區的人行道，是報紙檔安身立命的地方，一個小小的書報攤在街頭販賣各種小商品，形成特殊的景觀。這些報紙檔都由香港政府簽發牌照開設，最早於1904年，由《南華早報》在中環山頂纜車總站外設立，主要是賣報紙。牌照可以代代相傳，不少報紙檔都傳了兩、三代，成爲特許的家族小生意。

港府於2000年停止發放固定攤販牌照，過去幾年，因爲便利店興起、精品街擴張和免費報出現，很多報紙檔失去場地或難以競爭，一個一個凋零，數量從鼎盛時期的2千800個左右，逐漸淘汰到目前約400多個。2009年起，報紙檔獲得食物環境衛生署核准，可以販賣12類物品，在報紙、書刊與香烟外，增加了瓶裝水、裝飾物和電話卡等多元商品，但即使像個小雜貨店，生意也比以前差很多。儘管人行道上的報紙檔不大，卻是社會變遷的縮影，更反映出中下層港人的刻苦奮鬥精神。