Ramm Liquor Store is an example of an industry struggling to cope in Lebanon’s crumbling rentier economy. The unstable currency exchange rate has caused the owner incalculable losses.
Rami Al Daroub, owner of the Ramm Liquor Store, a local spirits shop in Beirut, described a recurring dream he’s been having about losing his customers and his business.
“In the week [when] the dollar rate reached 15 thousand [Lebanese Liras], he was so worried about the losses, about losing customers, and he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about what would happen later.” said his wife and life partner, Inass Zouhairy.
“It took him a long time and sacrifice… To reach where he is right now, and the possibility of losing everything is devastating to him” Zouhairy continued.
“All the customers now before they buy they ask ‘how much is this right now? Why [is it] like this? Yesterday [it was a] price, why [is it] now [a different] price?’ Because of that I have problems with my business.” expressed Al Daroub.
He explained to me why he is forced to raise his prices everyday.
“I am a retail shop. Sometimes I receive my products from companies directly, and sometimes I receive my products from suppliers; small suppliers.” he explained.
He continued to describe how the process works. Almost all his products are imported, and even local products are made from imported material such as Arak and Wine. There is no escape from the effect that the increasing exchange rate has on his prices.
Al Daroub said that it is easier to raise prices rather than lower them. He expressed how, if the exchange rate decreased, there is no guarantee that the suppliers will lower their prices. He will lose money if he decreased the price of products he bought on a higher exchange rate. Similarly, he has to protect the stock he bought for a lower exchange rate.
“We don’t really know if our protective strategies are good for us in the long run” said Zouhairy.
The same thought was expressed earlier that day in our interview with Al Daroub: “I have no time to reevaluate [my strategy].”
He spoke about his recurring dream where he fights with suppliers and his customers. “I [tell] him what this customer [told] me: ‘All customers now think I am a thief or something’.”
“This shop has been here since 1998. I worked here as a child, school student, and university student. I know everything about my business. I know all my customers since I lived here since childhood.” said Al Daroub. “I am afraid to lose what I made.”
“We faced problems… But luckily our reputation helped us to still have loyal customers. But our reputation was built by Rami’s hard work. [The customers] understand that he won’t cheat them… They know him and respect him.” expressed Zouhairy.
The interesting thing is that, as customers and consumers, we have every right to complain about the prices, but our anger is being directed towards the wrong people. Rami Al-Daroub is just a another man with a family.
Meanwhile, the state is providing subsidies for big suppliers to aid them in importing products by using the dollar on the official 1500 L.L rate. That move has been questioned by many due to the continuous increase in prices indicating the subsidized dollars are not being used properly. Shops are being accused of hoarding products so they would not sell them at a lower price, going as far as finding Lebanese subsidized products in the Ivory Coast.
Since Al-Daroub sells luxuries not necessities, the subsidies do not directly help him. They do help local products in terms of the material used to make them or the fuel used to ship them.
Many people like Al-Daroub were failed by the state who forgot about the services sector and how it held the economy together for years, providing no aid or subsidies to them.
Rami Al-Daroub, like all of these people, is getting by; surviving every day at a time with no sign of a light at the end of the tunnel.
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