These days French consumers aren’t just looking for the best value, they’re looking to keep their euros in their wallets. And so Fransiska Greenland and Jaime Arredondo have imported a simple idea from the Netherlands: to link DIY enthusiasts to individuals who are fed up with having to replace something that’s broken because it’s more expensive to repair it.

The Repair Café movement – trying to fix something instead of throwing it out – was launched in Amsterdam five years ago by Martine Postma. It was so successful that she set up The Repair Café Foundation (http://repaircafe.org), a Dutch non-profit organisation, in 2011 to “provide professional support to local groups in the Netherlands and other countries wishing to start their own Repair Café”.

Fransiska and Jaime now have un repair café at 4 rue Vernier in Nice, open for the moment (2014) every second Saturday from 15h-18h. With all the tools in-house so you can mend your pants, fix your bike or even your coffee maker yourself – there are also volunteer bricoleurs on hand to help with your repairs (for a small agreed fee). If you’ve nothing to repair, stop by for a free coffee and maybe lend a hand.