Café’s, shops and restaurants in the Beirut Central District have reported losses of as much as 75% since the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, as demonstrations, strikes and official mourning amounted to eight days of lost business. More importantly, retailers claim, it is the general atmosphere of political and economic insecurity that deters people from going out. “Shopping is the last thing on their minds,” said one shopkeeper, summing up the general mood.
While Sunday afternoons and weekday lunchtimes have seen a relative return to normality, in the evening, the area is like a ghost town. “We are losing more than 50% in sales,” said an employee of Place d’Etoile, the café opposite the clock tower where Hariri and his entourage enjoyed their last coffee.
While all shops and restaurants in the area are suffering, arguably the hardest hit is the Virgin Megatore, which has seen its immediate surroundings sealed off. “Most customers we get these days, are demonstrators who come to use the toilets,” said Virgin’s general manager and chairman Jihad el Murr, who said his shop, at one point one of Lebanon’s best retail performers, had seen a 70% drop in sales since February 14.
Still, he was upbeat. “We do not mind this situation for three months or so,” he said, “especially if it means the political situation changes in a positive way. However, if it is to last longer, then we are forced to take drastic measures, such as laying off employees and reducing opening hours.”
It is not just sales in downtown Beirut that have taken a hit. Hamra Street, normally one of the Beirut’s busiest areas, has also seen a fall-off in trading activity, with shopkeepers reporting a 40% to 70% decreases in sales, while in New Jdeideh, the scene of a car bomb at the end of March, retailers complained of similar losses.
