By Anand Holla

 

 

Name: K Jemal

Nationality: Indian

Shop location: Bin Turkey al-Subaey Store, Near Doha Exchange, Main Street, Souq Waqif

 

What do you sell?

We have a fine collection of souvenirs, handicrafts, and antiques. We mainly stock souvenir items that bear the name of Qatar or Doha on them such as keychains, magnets and showpieces. We also stock a wide range of “genie lamps,” chandeliers, brass coffee pots, fanoos (hand-made lanterns), beads, fancy stones, trinkets, miniature hookahs, miniature wooden and brass camels, knives, daggers, carpets, shawls and clocks.

 

What are your shop’s specialties?

Our specialties are brass items, Arabian coffee pots, kettles, genie lamps and hookahs, because these are most popular among tourists, especially Europeans, as they feel these souvenirs exude a distinct Middle Eastern flavour.

 

Where do you source your goods from?

Our brass items come from India. We purchase most other materials from Dubai though they are originally from Turkey (like lanterns), Iran (like hand-painted souvenir boxes) and Syria (like mosaic boxes made of Mother of Pearl).

 

How do you try and set yourself apart from other shops?

We maintain great customer relations and we always try to offer the best price for our customers.

 

Do you face any kind of problems running this shop?

None at all. It’s very safe here.

 

Who are your customers?

Our customers mostly are tourists and transit passengers from Europe. We get quite some Arab visitors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The proof of our happy customers is this cupboard (points to a big cupboard stuck with currency notes and coins of various countries). Almost 60 countries are represented here. Some tourists gave us their currency some years ago and we started displaying them. Soon enough, tourists from all over the world wanted to see their countries represented on this space, and they would pull out a note requesting us to include it, too. Only today, a Kuwaiti gentleman handed me a Kuwaiti Dinar and insisted that I put it up there. We don’t ask for it. They give it themselves. Many of them sign on it, too. Since some currencies are expensive, we give them the equivalent Qatari Riyals in return.

 

What kind of customers do you find annoying?

During Eid holidays, children often come by and create a ruckus. Apart from that, all customers are great to deal with.

 

Tell us your favourite anecdote related to a customer.

There are so many, as can be seen by our currency cupboard. Customers pleased with our service give us souvenirs in return and we display them, too. That’s how we have some memorabilia from Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, etc.

 

What is the best thing about Souq Waqif?

This place has a nice atmosphere, which helps visitors take leisurely strolls, checking out shops they like. Most customers therefore are already in a good frame of mind when they visit our shops.

 

If it wasn’t for this job, what would you have been doing?

Before I came to Qatar eight years ago, I was working at five star hotels in Bahrain. So if it wasn’t for this job, I would have been a tourist guide, so as to help them discover the city.

 

 

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