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‘One-dirham’ outlets mull price hike

Commonly known as ‘one dirham’ or ‘10 dirham’ outlets, the shops are extremely popular among shoppers looking for good bargains. Prices of goods being sold at the outlets range from between Dh1 to a maximum of Dh5 in one-dirham store, and from Dh10 to Dh20 maximum at 10 dirham stores.

“The shops offer goods that are affordable by all, though I agree that the quality may not be extraordinary. Still, there are many items we need in our daily lives that need not be necessarily be expensive,” opined Mariama B, a regular shopper.

Expressing concern over the possibility of price increase, she added, “Nothing is really cheap now anymore. Still there is a major chunk of the population that visits these stores to hunt for good bargains. If they, too, are considering increasing prices, then I would prefer to visit a regular store to at least get a better quality for the same price,” she added.

However, Mohammed Saleh Ibrahimi, Manager of Two Dirhams Centre in Sharjah says, “We are currently studying the market and we do expect an increase as our import prices and factory charges have gone up. But, in the end, we do not want to upset our customers.”

Stationery, school items and soaps might be affected by the price increase as they are currently being sold for Dh1. The minimum prices may be fixed at Dh2 instead. “However for goods being sold for Dh5, we may not change the prices, but instead settle for a lower profit margin,” explains Ibrahimi.

Likewise, Izaad, Manager of Day to Day Centre in Dubai expects that the rising shipping costs may lead to shortage of goods available for Dh1. “We cannot change the selling style of our stores and we have a dedicated customer base. So, we are still studying the market and expect that we may lose the profit margin by 10 per cent,” he explained.

Raza Abbas, a shopper opined that the stores may resort to selling goods of even lower quality to offset the increasing costs. “The goods may be of cheaper quality. But even if they consider increasing the price by one dirham, people will not stop buying,” he said.

Most stores import items from Thailand, Iran, Indonesia, China and India.

A manager of Gift Market in Sharjah, who did not wish to be named, also said that profit margins had dipped. “This has affected all markets, not only us. We are watching the market and might consider an increase later,” he added.

They all, however, said that the price increase would not affect the pockets of the customers. “Customers need to buy. Though business may be reduced for a while, it will pick-up slowly again,” they add.

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