Standalone fish outlets in Qatar growing in numbers

There is a growing trend among entrepreneurs to open standalone fish and seafood outlets in Doha, Gulf Times reported.

They feel opening such stores will help provide access to a large group of regular fish buyers by offering them a "convenient option" in their neighbourhood and, in the process, save them a trip to hypermarkets or the Doha Central Market.

Most retail options for buying fish are currently available in hypermarkets located in malls and shopping complexes. The fish section in the Central Market in Abu Hamour, too, has a number of retail stalls.

While standalone meat and chicken stores can be found in some city areas, sources in the retail sector said there is also a demand for similar shops selling fish and other types of seafood.

Now, in a move that gives consumers greater choice, new fish stores have come up in places such as Umm Ghuwailina, Doha Jadeed, Mansoura and Bin Dirham, among others, in recent months. More such shops are expected to open in Al Wakrah and Muaither.

These densely populated neighbourhoods present promising business opportunities, say entrepreneurs, who are confident that they can sell large quantities of reasonably-priced varieties of fish in these areas.

Residents, on their part, welcomed the move to open fish stores in different Doha localities.

"This will save people the time and effort required to go to a hypermarket, which may not be located in the vicinity of where they stay. If these new stores can offer good prices and adequate varieties of fish, they’ll find a lot of takers," said a resident of an area where a fish store opened recently.

Meanwhile, a wholesale supplier said many shoppers — especially small families — were not keen to visit the Doha Central Market to buy fish.

"They aren’t comfortable with making purchases at stalls in the market due to the big crowds there. Vendors, too, are sometimes unable to meet the requirements of customers effectively due to the rush there.

“These factors are prompting some of our business partners to open independent shops in some of the densely populated areas in the city and its immediate neighbourhood," he explained.

"The demand for fish has been steadily growing as there has been a continuous flow of newcomers into the country over the past few years, many of whom are from places where fish is the staple diet. There’s every reason to believe that there’s more scope for the fish retail business in the coming years as well," the supplier added.

Large crowds are often noticed in the fish sections of different hypermarkets as well and sometimes customers have to wait for 30 minutes or more to get fish cleaned and cut by those working at these stalls, it is learnt.

The neighbourhood shops offer "convenience as well as a more personalised service" to customers, the sources point out.

Courtesy: gulf-times.com