Meat shops in Oman approach a dead end
Muscat: It is six in the evening, and Aslam Qureshi sits outside unoccupied. Earlier, it used to be very hectic at this time, "so much that even three people would not be able to manage. Not anymore though," says Aslam, as he gets up to attend to a customer, finally at his shop, after two long hours.
Owning one of the oldest meat shops in the meat shop lane, near Wadi Kabir Lulu, business is dwindling for Qureshi, and other meat shop owners, due to the rise of hypermarkets and supermarkets, a couple of them along adjacent lanes.The age old meat shops at Hamriyyah have also met the same fate, with many shut down and others struggling to survive, due to the very same reason.
No real meat lover would prefer buying his meat from a supermarket. Instead of hurrying up a purhcase, he'd spend some time getting his desired cuts. Aslam Qureshi, Meat shop owner, WadiKabir
"Things have become really difficult for us. With a supermarket opening up here and there, not many people prefer making effort to come to us, just to buy meat, when they can get it at the supermarket, along with all the other essentials," said Rajab Ali, a Bangladeshi butchery owner in Hamriyah.
Over the past few years, Muscat has enjoyed an unprecedented boom in the retail sector, with shopping malls popping up at every nook and corner, extending the ease of getting it all under one roof to shoppers.
The trend however, has made casualty of the small independents who are progressively being squeezed out, especially the meat merchants, incapable of keeping up with the soaring costs of doing business and the sheer professionalism and flourish of their larger rivals. And, it›s not just meat, the scenario is common with almost all small time shops.
"We've seen stagnation and closure of many street shops, in the recent years, owing to the mall culture.An increasing number of shops are falling by the wayside as they fail to meet the expectations of today's increasingly sophisticated, time-poor consumer. Small time retailers are in a bad state, if not dire, witnessing a downward spiral in business, lost in favour of convenience and a set of trusted, if not always truly revered, big retail chains," said Emanuel Jose, Indian expatriate living in Muscat for the last 35 years.
Losing ground
Everyday sales have shrunk acutely, even though the quality of the meat sold was much better than what was being sold at the malls, claims Mohammed Bilal Khatri, a meat shop owner at WadiKabir.
"The sale is very low and fluctuating these days. Sometimes it is to the tune of RO 100-150 per day. At other times, it might go as low as RO 10-15 in the whole day. Earlier, it mostly used to be between RO 300-400 per day. Even though we sell better quality meat, still we are losing the run, because of the convenience the malls provide to the buyers," noted Bilal.
Another major reason for the decline in customer footfall was traffic congestion, according to Mohammed Tufail, a Pakistani, running a meat shop at a Wadi Kabir lane, for the last 30 years.
We have better quality and variety of meats, sold at better prices, yet people flock to hypermarkets merely for convenience. Mohammed Tufail, Meat shop owner, WadiKabir
According to Tufail, the majority of expatriates opting for malls did not hamper their business much, as they mostly bought meat in small quantities. Rather, it were their loyal customers, mostly Omanis, who would buy meat in large quantities; now refraining from coming there due to gridlocks, which has hit them badly.
"We used to have customers from as far as Mabelah, who would come asking for a full goat or two, at a time. But the worsening traffic problem, has forced them to stop coming here. For hours, one may not even find a parking spot, all thanks to the supermarket," revealed Tufail, adding many customers would still call them and ask to have the meat delivered to their premise, which has become an added burden for them, having to turn down the requests most of the times, owing to the shortage of manpower.
Better than supermarkets
The quality and variety of the meats sold at the shops is much better in comparison to what was being sold at the supermarkets, according to Mohammed Rafique, another old-time meat seller at Wadi Kabir; the meat being procured from countries like Australia, New Zealand, Tanzania, Somalia, Pakistan, and India - beef and mutton.
The changed priorities of customers have marred our business a lot. But, we are in a new age of consumerism and, I guess,we need to adapt to that. Mohammed Rafique, Meat shop owner, WadiKabir
"The meat that we sell has no preservatives in it, as we have a regular fresh supply, whereas the meats sold at the hypermarkets mostly are treated with preservatives and sealed in plastic, to stop air contact, very much affecting the taste of the meat, its essence reduced very much," revealed Mohammed.
Fresh stocks are flown in daily from Somalia, and Pakistan. Fresh mutton is also procured from the Bowsher abattoir. "We supply both fresh and frozen meats, according to customer demand. The daily fresh supply is not available at the supermarkets. And yet our prices are low in comparision,"said Bilal, adding that their prices are upto one rial cheaper than what is offered at malls.
Plus, customers canl bargain for good deals, something which the punching devices at the supermarkets are unable to extend to customers, says Aslam. Also, the meat cuts are created on the spot, with the customers having the choice of getting the cuts modified their way.
"We are only and exclusively into meat. The malls cannot cater to the customers, better than us. In malls, even the cuts are pre-made. But sadly, that's how buyers prefer it these days, to save time. Buying meat used to be an art, and we used to be the masters of the trade. However, that doesn't stand true any longer, concludes Aslam."
Loss of a trend
Jaber Husain Al Amri, a resident of Wadi Kabir feels, the rise of a mall culture not only hurt the commercial prospects of small business owners, but also damaged the social fabric of a closely knit community.
"Our shopping is now confined to supermarkets which don't sell only food anymore, but all manner of things that people would buy on high streets. They've been expanding their reach into home-wares, stationery, books, flowers – you name it, they have it. Supermarkets now allocate more than one third of their floor space to non-food sales," he says.
All of the retail items, once the preserve of specialists on high streets, are now being sold in volume by the generalists. Categories of goods which were once perceived as luxuries, like flowers, are now perceived as throwaway value purchases at the bottom of an increasingly heaving shopping trolley.
Stressing the small individual retailers must not be simply gobbled up by the major supermarkets, Jaber said adding that these small shops provided more than just shopping for a commodity. It was about sociability and relaxation, creativity and being part of something you cannot get at home or work - experiences, none of which were available at the crowded, fast-paced malls.
"For this reason, I think, we need a more sophisticated understanding of what a good deal for us actually is, looking beyond simply price-based considerations, to include community welbeing and long-term sustainability," he added.
Another, Ziad Al Balushi, a resident of Darsait, believed that the mall trend was also displacing the economy of the local areas. "The money spent at hypermarkets is more likely to leave the local area straight away, having less or no economic impact on that area."
He believed the shift was actually limiting the future economy by not supporting the new retailers and entrepreneurs.
"With so much of our spending going into the pockets of the big players, we are doing damage to the local entrepreneurs, the potential brands and the wealth creators of our future, and ultimately to ourselves – losing on both, the social as well as economic, capital."
Ziad added that there has been a radical shift in the people's values, owing to the prolonged boom in consumerism.
"We have seen a radical and profound shift in our values. We no longer seem to value the place we live in, or the people we live alongside. We no longer value human interaction, socialising or being part of something bigger than ourselves. I think we've lost our understanding of what true value is. It is so much more than just the price of goods that we buy. Unless we start seeing value differently we›d be in serious trouble."
