MAKKAH: It is not business as usual for Makkah businesses. And this happens every year with the multitudes converging on Makkah to perform Haj. It is the season when the retailers hope to benefit from the shopping spree that ensues after the pilgrims have completed one of the five pillars of Islam.
The scene repeats itself every Haj with many businesses diversifying their interests in addition to selling their regular goods and services. They hope that the temporary shift to something that is commonly sought or to something that is out of the ordinary that could attract business in these few days of Haj is profitable.
That’s why the signboards highlighting the products and services of shops could be misleading. Many shops stock up on clothes and electronic goods and shoppers could easily buy things of their choice — like clothes in electronics shops and vice versa — in stores that advertise only the sale of one particular category of goods. For businesses this is a golden opportunity to make five times as much as they make in one regular month.
The major shift is seen in shops that sell large home appliances because few pilgrims are going to purchase heavy items that would cost a lot of money to take home, according to Baraka Salama, the owner of an electronics shop in Makkah’s Aziziyah district. So these shops tend to shift their offerings during Haj.
“Not only the electronic shops are doing this, but people owning cafeterias are selling umbrellas to pilgrims and camping equipment for pilgrims and also phone cards,” he said.
Saleh bin Ali, owner of another electronics shop, said that he replaced his usual inventory with goods that he thought would be sought after by pilgrims.
“I had to make room inside my shop and I went to Jeddah and bought over SR100,000 worth of gifts and ready-made clothes. I know that I will get my money back and also profit.”
With the current global economic crisis continuing, diversifying inventory away from high priced goods has been more important than in the past.
