Badea Abu Al-Naja Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — Commercial store owners in Makkah have become helpless in fighting street peddlers who are blocking their customers at door entrances. With authorities busy during Haj, these peddlers took the opportunity to carry out illegal commercial activities by positioning themselves in front of stores, causing huge losses to business owners. Despite many complaints the store owners filed to the Ministry of Commerce and Municipality, their pleas have reportedly fallen on deaf ears. Saudi Gazette visited a number of commercial places and spoke to owners as well as street peddlers. Ali Muhammad, owner of a clothing store in a commercial center near the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said that street peddlers have existed for a long time. "They used to call them (fargana), which are people who place their products in a big bag and carry it on their backs. They roam the streets and sell directly to homes," he said. “Now, street peddlers are different. They are a group of illegal people who sell products of unknown origins. They are a group of African and Asian nationals and are active in areas around the Grand Mosque. Recently, the Makkah municipality drove them away until they no longer existed near the Grand Mosque. They soon found alternative places in commercial markets, especially open markets.” Muhammad said he is not against people who are trying to earn a living but he is against the way it is done. He said these street peddlers harass them by positioning themselves in front of shops. They steal customers, who were intending to enter the store by offering them competitive prices. He added, “I pay rent, electricity bills and other expenses. It is not fair that this is happening to us. We complained many times to the municipality but little is being done.” Hasan Qasim, a store owner, said that he pays an annual rent of SR160,000, in addition to the cost of products he sells. He said, “Most of the peddlers are women, especially Nigerian women. They are very difficult to deal with. They do not pay rent and electricity. All they have to do is find a strategic location in front of my store and steal my customers.” Qasim added that peddlers buy cheap products and sell them at a cheaper price. He said that their operation is causing them huge financial losses, estimated at millions of riyals for all owners. He added, “I sell pillow fabrics. These peddlers buy fabric as cheap as SR9 and sell it for SR10. The moment a customer walks in to buy something from me, they quickly offer them the competitive price and customers, mostly pilgrims who are searching for a bargain, buy from them. I am looking for at least an SR10 profit on each piece I sell to cover the many expenses on the store. For these peddlers, a one riyal profit is very comfortable.” Hasan Gayed, a store owner, described these peddlers as pirates. He said that they always block customers from coming to his store and he has suffered a lot because of them, especially during the peak business days after Haj. He said, “When women peddlers sit in front of my store there is little I can do to move them. Complaining to authorities is useless because the moment authorities leave the place, the peddlers come back again.” He said that peddlers usually position themselves in front of stores that sell the same product they are trying to sell. He added, “They offer their cheap and low quality products for cheaper prices and customers walk in to our stories and ask for the good quality products for the same price of the cheap ones. When we say no, they just go back to the street peddlers and buy from them.” Rahma Bakr, a Nigerian female street peddler, said that she has been working as a peddler for almost 15 years with many other women of the same nationality. She said, “Our business is good especially during Ramadan and Haj. We buy most of our products from the old markets in Jeddah for a cheaper price and sell it for an acceptable margin of profit from pilgrims and visitors. We work from early morning until midnight. We make a good profit and sitting on the sidewalk is the best way to sell because we cannot afford to rent a store and we don't pay for store decorations. "Nowadays I am making an average of SR200 a day. We position ourselves in front of the stores because that is where customers usually go. There is no place for us to sit. The market is big enough for all.”
