La Jornada: Small stores earn less due to shortages; They hope the World Cup will help

Neighborhood stores had a “hard” first quarter, as their profits were reduced due to the increase in prices, and the owners had to extend their working days up to 16 hours, announced the National Association of Small Merchants (Anpec).

Its president, Cuauhtémoc Rivera, hoped that during the second quarter of the year consumption – which has decreased in recent months – will rebound with the Soccer World Cup.

“Inflation has hit. Fresh products have become more expensive in a way rarely seen. The king has been the tomato, with a 78 percent increase, and this affects sales; it makes the merchant have to work harder to achieve the break-even point,” he mentioned.

In a conference, he specified that “when sales decrease, the merchant has to keep his point of sale open more hours to cover services such as electricity, pay suppliers, collaborators or someone in the family who helps them.”

Rivera pointed out that before the price increase, the corner stores opened around 10 and a half hours to balance sales and profits, but “today a small merchant has to work, on average, 16 hours. It is exhausting.”

Adapt or lose

Price increases are also noticeable in profits. He explained that before the Covid-19 pandemic, a miscellany could bill up to 40 thousand pesos a week and obtain 25 percent profits, but now, with the drop in consumption, that margin has decreased.

“The monthly billing went down. If before you earned 10 thousand pesos, now it is 25 percent less. That is, in four weeks, you earn what you previously obtained in three,” he said.

To get ahead, the shopkeepers have managed. “For example, there are grocers who, instead of selling the entire package of bread, sell bags with two or four slices for five pesos,” Rivera explained.

However, a small light appears before the curtains are lowered: the Soccer World Cup that will be held this summer.

“We are holding hands waiting for the World Cup to reactivate the economy in the second quarter, since the year has been difficult. We see it as an opportunity and we are very encouraged to do things with joy,” he concluded.