The curious store that generates long lines in the center of Caracas and unleashes the controversy in networks about the Venezuelan economy

Since its inauguration, carried out last week, a store has sparked controversy around the economic issue. It is a shop located in the historic center of the Venezuelan capital, where long lines of buyers are eager to enter to check the merchandise.

It's called "Amazon Depot" and customers are willing to spend up to two hours to get in, while waiting outside. What is striking about the store, according to several of the people who make the line, is that nobody has any idea of ​​the products that are sold.

"Do you want it? Find it," reads an announcement posted at the entrance. Thus, potential buyers make long queues, hoping to find an item that catches their attention and is useful to them.

The concept of the store is that people enter to check boxes of products that were never withdrawn from Amazon's central warehouses in the US and that the owners of this store import to Caracas.

Xiomara Giménez, one of the buyers, comments that it lasted more than an hour "jurungando", a word that in Venezuelan slang means "to rummage". It seemed like a good option to her because she was able to buy items from well-known brands at affordable prices. In her case, she said, she got three brand-name jeans that cost $15 each.

"I was passing by and I saw the notice of the store that said Amazon, it caught my attention and I queued. I had to wait a long time. When you are inside, you get all kinds of products, especially electrical ones, and anything goes between 5 and 20 dollars. There are toys for children, things for babies, food for pets, Christmas lights, clothing, bathing suits, pants, blouses, dresses, underwear," says Giménez, who recalled that years before the economic crisis, there were stores in the country that sold under this modality.

The appearance of this place in Caracas has generated controversy and various comments on social networks regarding the new economic dynamics in Venezuela, which shows its extremes: one in which the majority of the population continues to overcome financial adversity and another that, in To a lesser extent, you have the possibility of making purchases of this type, which could be considered sumptuary consumption.

How does it work?

To enter the premises, the person must do so with a mask due to the biosecurity measures that are maintained by the covid-19 pandemic.

If the client has a suitcase, bag or item in hand, you must leave it in a closet. At the entrance there are security personnel who are in charge of opening and closing a railing that they use to control the access and exit of clients.

Once inside, the surveillance is extreme and has the support of more than 10 vendors who warn that photos or videos cannot be taken. On the first floor, the products are placed on tables marked with prices and colors.

The garments or items are offered at 5, 10, 15 and 20 dollars. Users have permission to review everything and, in fact, on one of its walls the store posts a message that says: "Jurungar is the idea", a phrase that urges reviewing each product so that the customer takes what they want and can .

However, on the tables there are also closed boxes. To open them, sellers must be supervising and, in general, they rush potential buyers to decide quickly what they are going to bring so they can make way for other customers.

Why does it generate so much controversy?

The current economic dynamics in Venezuela, which on the one hand shows more activity in shops and on the other leaves a good part of the population with incomes that do not exceed 10 dollars a month, makes it clear how inequality has deepened.

Given this situation, warned by the president, Nicolás Maduro, the appearance of this type of store is incomprehensible to a part of the citizens, although there are those who observe them as a reflection of economic growth and the end of the hyperinflationary crisis experienced by the country for years.

Mr. Wilmer Ramírez, who was looking at prices around the store, comments with astonishment how in recent years several commercial premises have been opened in the city such as cafes, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and shoe, clothing and toy stores, that import a variety of goods despite the sanctions imposed on the country.

"There are many new places that I have seen. They bring everything, and a person with little money can buy and one with a lot, because they sell very expensive things and others that one can buy with effort," he maintains.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Solange Rodríguez, a retired lawyer, says that she is excited to see that people are making purchases in a way they have not done for years, but admits that she still cannot afford these expenses because her income is limited to the monthly pension. and to the financial aid it receives from the State.

"I get excited because I see that there are more people on the street, buying their little things, you see movement. I haven't seen that for about five years and I'm happy even though I can't do it, because the pension barely gives me enough to buy some little things. Thank God, I have a nephew who helps me with the food, because I don't have children and at my age people don't give me work."

The controversy surrounding the inauguration of this commercial premises is added to others generated in the country on the economic issue. One of the most recent was starred by the famous show business man Osmel Sousa, who is known as an organizer of beauty pageants.

The designer also posted a video on his networks inside a supermarket in Caracas and says he had a mental lapse when he believed he was in Miami, USA: "I didn't know that there was this thing in Caracas, I thought it was in the outside, it's something wonderful (...) Two floors with everything you need, one thing, I've been stunned".

If you liked it, share it with your friends!