Mini Home Markets Gaining Popularity

More residents are enjoying the convenience
of using home-run stalls selling simple items, compared to conventional
marketplaces that come with restrictions in operating hours, Daily NK has
learned. 

You can sell and buy goods from these
residential stalls as long as you have an established level of trust with the
owner,
a source based in South Pyongan Province told
the Daily NK on Thursday.
More people are converting
rooms in their homes and selling goods day and night.
” 

This foundation of trust is bolstered by three chief pillars: the customer has evidence of a steady source of revenue, and is neither an undercover official looking to crackdown on the operations, or a
swindler hoping to cut and run with the goods. Passing muster can take time and requires a number of others within the right circles for validation.

According to the source, these
home-operated stalls started popping up in the 1990s, mostly around schools to
sell snacks to students. Starting a few years ago, more people have been
converting or extending parts of their homes and selling electronics–namely
televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines–and food in bulk.
 

Every aspect of operations–from investment to distribution and sales–involving these homes stalls are run by the families inhabiting the premises, which enables the unit to function like a well-oiled company, with workers picking up shifts around the clock. Even if you dont have much in
terms of assets, as long as you open shop at home, you can secure products to
sell on credit from wholesalers and put things on tabs for people as well. For
this reason these places are referred to as
credit
stalls,'” the source explained, adding that the system is as beneficial to customers as it is to owners.

In contrast to the markets, one of the
greatest merits of these stalls is the freedom they offer to dodge curfews
enforced during farming mobilization, where vendors see their retail time
curtailed to a few hours a day– if any. Even better is the fact that these
home stalls, not yet on the radar for crackdowns, easily evade surveillance.
Theres no fee for the stall like at
markets, and vendors don
t need to leave products with
security at the market or bring them home, so all in all it
s very convenient, she asserted. 

In North Korea, official market operations typically involve a stand approximately 50-60cm in width, procured by vendors by paying a fee to the
management office. The street stalls are larger, about 1.5-2m wide, and owners contribute 10
percent of their sales to the city or county service management office in order to sell there. State-run shops are assigned to individuals who pay rent to conduct wholesale or retail operations.
 

Conveniently located on the main roads leading to the markets, these home shops see increasingly more business for those looking for an alternative. “Home stalls are right where people live,
so word of mouth travels and people in the neighborhood are able to go buy
things they need regardless of what time it is,
the
source said, adding that sellers even offer delivery services for big purchases.

These residential shops also offer a safer option for those looking to keep their affluence under wraps. “For Party cadres and the donju [new affluent
middle class] who have accumulated assets illegally, their amount of spending
is more or less exposed if they buy products at the market and at general
shops. But with home-run stalls that
s not the case, so
they don
t have to worry, the
source said.

As with all things, this new
convenience comes with drawbacks. Offering one such caveat in this case, she
pointed out,
You may be able to put things on a tab,
but you can
t haggle.