According to figures collected by MediaTech Company, which is contracted by Erbil Municipality to collect rubbish, 334 supermarkets and minimarkets have closed in Erbil over the past four months.
The company has a record of 45,589 markets and businesses in its database, including 896 markets and minimarkets and 106 supermarkets and hypermarkets in Erbil as of August. By the end of November, the numbers had dropped to 597 markets and minimarkets, and 71 supermarkets and hypermarkets.
During the boom years between 2003 and 2013, many markets were opened throughout the capital, creating job opportunities.
TeamMart opened its first supermarket in Erbil at the end of 2008, growing to more than 30 throughout Erbil and surrounding areas. Over the past three years, the company has had to close 12 branches because of the Region’s financial crisis. The latest one was in November this year.
“The financial crisis has deeply affected peoples’ ability to purchase things. Most people don’t look for brand or quality items when they go shopping nowadays. They are mostly after cheap items whose profit cannot be increased. This is why the profit our company is making has dropped dramatically,” Aram Omer, General Manager of TeamMart in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw.
“Sales percentage has dropped by 40 percent in all our branches. It has dropped even further in some branches. That is why we had close down 12 of our branches. If the crisis continues, we might close down 10 more,” Omer added.
“We will close branches whose sales percentage drop to nearly 50 percent and open another branch somewhere else.”
Many markets offer discounts to attract customers and compete with other businesses.
“We have special prices for some items every month in order to attract customers,” Omer explained.
Other businesses, like Hafta Bazaars and Harzan Bazaars, offered goods at near wholesale prices.
His business started off well, said Lawa Abdullah, supervisor of Haftabazaar 1 in Erbil. But sales have dropped by “70 percent because of the ongoing financial crisis and peoples’ poor financial ability, especially after the events of October 16.”
Business is better in Erbil than in other parts of the Region, however. “Our sales in Erbil branches are 15 percent higher compared to those in Sulaimani,” Abdullah said.
Basic necessities like food and hygiene products are the best sellers, he explained.
Hypermarkets have also taken a financial hit.
“We have recently moved two branches we had within New City and Mega Mall to Sulaimani and Basra,” said Hewa Shekhani, manager of City Center hypermarket in Erbil.
City Center hypermarket has branches in Sulaimani, Basra, Erbil, and some cities in Kuwait. They had a plan to open six more branches in Erbil.
“In order to adapt to the circumstances, we have deducted from our profits. We have tried to introduce goods that are in demand. In the past, we had discounts once every 15 days or a month. Nowadays, we offer discounts on some of our items every week,” Shekhani said.
Correction: The story has been updated to correct statements from Hewa Shekhani. An earlier version stated that he had closed two branches of City Center hypermarket in Erbil. The branches have been relocated, not closed.
