ABOUT 500,000 small grocery store owners nationwide are afraid of the private supermarkets, which are springing up in Egypt and threatening to destroy their livelihoods. The owners and their union officials have called on the Government to set up a joint stock company (JSC) in each governorate and provide it with cash and commodities to withstand the fierce competition from ambitious foreign and local companies, which have started introducing Western-style supermarkets into the local market. The proposal, presented by the Alexandria-based Grocery Shop Owners' Union, reflects wider tensions in Egypt, where private investment is opposed by traders scared of new retail competition, according to Al-Alem Al-Youm which is concerned with financial and economic affairs. “it's high time to set up a JSC in each governorate to compete against the supermarkets; otherwise 500,000 small traders and their families will perish," says Amr Talaat, the head of the Domestic Trade Development Authority, which has been warning against the shortcomings of private retail investment in Egypt. The small traders fear these supermarkets will put them out of a job, as they have partially monopolised the local retail market and a good portion of its labour force. "The owners of these supermarkets have Government support and capital. It's like a bare-fisted lightweight boxer being matched against a heavyweight wearing gloves," says Hashim Abu Gouda, the owner of a small grocery store in Cairo. Talaat explains that the supermarkets, which have become popular among Egyptian consumers, are making big profits at the expense of the small shops, capitalising on the advantages of the retail sector in Egypt, whose population stands at almost 82 million. "There is strong market competition between the big supermarkets and the small grocery shops," Moustafa el- Dawi, Chairman of the Alexandriabased Grocery Shop Owners' Section, stresses. El-Dawi said that the small groceries in cities and towns have not been doing very well since these supermarket chains entered the local market. "Sooner or later, these thriving supermarkets will throw the small shops out of business," el-Dawi warned. Egypt is a huge market for both locally produced and imported food products, while these supermarkets have expanded to all the big cities, selling their commodities at wholesale prices, he explained, lamenting the fact that the small traders have been gravely affected. El-Dawi urged the Government to help the small traders by revamping their shops and providing them with goods which are slightly cheaper than the prices of the supermarkets, in order to attract more consumers. He said that he hoped these small traders, with the Government's help, will reclaim their position in the local market despite the presence of the 'big boys'.
