Wholesale vs. Retail

Wholesale vs. Retail
Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sánchez

I have the impression of being trapped in a permanent deja vu, in a
reality where phrases, complaints and situations are almost exactly
repeated. Today at noon I heard on the street words identical to those
of last week; the neighborhood brooding over problems very similar to
those of two decades ago, and at the butcher's a long line seemed
modeled on another of 1994 or 2002. It's hard to shake the feeling that
we have already lived this, of having fallen into a loop that brings us
back, over and over again, to the same point we've already passed
before. One of the recurring scenes is the pursuit of food and other
basic products chronically in short supply in our markets. Going after a
little oil, a package of sausage, or a piece of soap to wash clothes.

The long-awaited reform that allowed the rebirth of self-employment has
generated some problems that are barely talked about. Lacking a
wholesale market where they can buy supplies and raw materials for their
small businesses, private workers have turned to the already weak retail
network. They line up at dawn outside the bakeries and certain shops to
acquire large quantities of merchandise that end up in restaurant and
snack bar kitchens. Without any special discounts for buying in
quantity, maintaining a supply of vegetables, grains and meats becomes a
harrowing task, difficult and extremely expensive. In addition, they
significantly decrease the availability of products for the
non-industrial consumer, the individual shopper who needs are only for
home use. The retail majority.

The feeble State commerce is not prepared for the demand of recent
months. Thus, it seems almost impossible to sustain over the longer term
a coexistence between the private sector and the inefficient supplies
from official companies. If this contradiction isn't resolved, the time
will come when pork, peppers and potatoes can only be found on the
plates of paladares — private restaurants. And the neighbor who
complains today, for the umpteenth time, about the absence of toilet
paper, will have to visit the bathrooms of the new restaurants to
remember what those rolls were like, so white, so soft.

5 June 2012

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