Okenyi Kenechi
Rivers State, especially Port Harcourt is not known for the large concentration of markets at a place as is the case in neighbouring towns like Aba and Uyo. Trading in Port Harcourt is usually done in street shops and a smaller concentration of sellers, especially food items dealers occupying small open markets with no lock-up stalls.
There are other weekly markets like the Oil Mill and Choba mid-week markets.
The only things one can easily buy inside the market in the oil city are food items or timber products. Every other thing like clothes, shoes, electronics, kitchen utensils et cetera is traded along the streets in mini-malls or attached stalls in key compounds. This is also the reason why the government built shops at Mile 3 are empty while traders prefer the comfort of the streets.
However, the proliferation of malls and chain stores are becoming a huge threat to the traditional market setting in the state. Not only are chain store enjoying huge patronage from the middle and upper class. They have become the new normal.
Chain stores like Everyday, Market Square, Spar and Next are competing for space, occupying strategic locations in the state capital.
These are the attributes of a developing society with an expanding taste and has also created a shift in the way people shop.
Over the past four years, chain stores have grown significantly in Port Harcourt, catering for all categories of shoppers. They have also led to massive job recruitment, especially female job seekers. However, they have reduced the dependence on traditional markets making these chain stores beehives of activities, especially during festive seasons.
An economist, Jude Ide, said that apart from the concept of an expanding society and expanding taste, more people are patronizing chain stores because of the belief that they sell quality products.
“Many factors drive the growth of chain stores in Rivers state. There is a general belief that chain stores sell products that are of more quality than the traditional markets and as you can see in Rivers State, the street markets too.
“Chain stores also sell a variety of products, some of which are not in the traditional markets. So, the convenience of seeing a variety of products in one place has a special effect on buyers. So all these drive the growth of chains stores”
A psychologist, Jane Ugwu thinks it has more to do with branding and better packaging. She says “ chain stores brand their goods well. They also make them look quite attractive by ensuring that they are neat, something most traditional market traders don’t pay much attention to.
“Chain stores also sell goods cheaper than the traditional market sellers because they buy in bulk from companies and do not go to either Onicha, Aba or Lagos. All these factors contribute to the increasing preference for chain stores in the state”
