Businesses struggle to cope with coronavirus fallout

Energy Wednesday 01/April/2020 18:03 PM
By: Times News Service
Businesses struggle to cope with coronavirus fallout

MUSCAT: The coronavirus is shaking retail businesses in Oman and the hardest hit ones are Muscat-based shops and for them it is just a matter of survival.
With the exception of supermarkets and medical entities, retails like fashions, restaurants, and the popular coffee shops are deserted. A stroll on the normally customer populated premises at the Wave is just a shadow of its former self.
Most of the shopping malls are closed. According to retail experts, over 200,000 shoppers across the country are staying home.
“Weekends see over 250,000 shoppers in the malls and that a lot of business the retail is missing out. In the normal weekdays, around 60,000 shoppers spill out in the shops, whether in the shopping malls or retail outlets on the streets. That is roughly half-a million shoppers are staying indoors a week, if you don’t consider those who are ordering online for home delivery,” Musa Al Owaisi, a retail expert told Times of Oman.
The average rent in shopping malls in the capital Muscat is around OMR3,000 a month. The biggest ones can go as high as OMR7,000 per month, depending on the mall.
“We can understand how difficult that would be for business owners to pay the rent if the situation continues for more than three months,” Mohammed Al Rawahi, another business expert said.
The government has announced a loan package to the financial institutions promising them the availability of financing to businesses if they need money to borrow to cope with the situation.
Said Al Marjebi, who owns three tailoring shops in Muscat is worried. He pays about OMR2,500 total rent per month for the three outlets. He is worried about the business uncertainty.
“No customers and I don’t know how long this situation will go on.”