Retailers keen to move outside Doha city limits

By Ramesh Mathew/Staff ReporterWith new workers' housing facilities coming up in places like Shahaniya and Umm Slal Mohamed, many retailers are showing interest in setting up shop in such areas, it is learnt.Some are even considering shifting their existing businesses to these fast-emerging areas due to various factors, say sources in the retail goods industry.While retailers were earlier largely hesitant to move to these destinations, they are now more open to the idea of setting up shop at places located outside city limits. Besides the high potential of such places in view of the new workers' accommodation units coming up there, one of the main reasons for the change in perception is that many businesspersons are finding it hard to cope with the rising commercial rents in Doha and its immediate suburbs, the sources point out.As a result, many entrepreneurs, especially newcomers to the sector, are seriously considering setting up outlets in places like the ones mentioned above or other neighbourhoods where new workers' accommodation units are coming up, it is understood.The retailers are hopeful that workers will occupy these new housing units for at least 5-6 more years as a number of major infrastructure development projects are being taken up in such areas. Beyond that, they feel new opportunities would emerge with time and these places would be adequately developed by then.Speaking to Gulf Times, inhabitants of some of workers' housing units in Umm Slal said the increase in retail outlets, mainly groceries, near their camps had been remarkable. "While there were only a handful of groceries in our neighbourhood earlier, now there are at least 12 such shops close to our accommodation," said the in-charge of a camp in Umm Slal.Explaining that their contracting firm shifted to Umm Slal following a steep rise in the rent for their accommodation in the Industrial Area, he said they were able now to run the camp, including payment of rent, at almost 50% of what they used to incur earlier. Further, he stressed that with many new shops coming up near the camp, the situation was considerably better for their workforce than what it was in the "congested" Industrial Area.The camp manager said the only advantage enjoyed by housing units in the Industrial Area is a permanent electricity connection. In places such as Umm Slal, camps often depend on generators for uninterrupted supply of power. Replying to a query, a retailer who has set up a new outlet in Kharitiyat said besides workers' accommodation, the north Doha town's interior areas have witnessed the arrival of a large number of villa compounds as well in the last couple of years. As most of the new villas are inhabited by locals, retailers feel that the purchasing power of those living near their shops in such areas is higher compared to other areas, where they rely mainly on expatriates for their business.