Bazaars bring business to office buildings
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The usually quiet mezzanine floor of Metropolitan I, located in the World Trade Center complex on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, had morphed into a bustling little market.
Dozens of traders had set up stalls offering their goods, ranging from kerupuk tenggiri (mackerel rice crackers) to clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, VCDs and CDs, even the works of well-known clay designer F. Widayanto, all at bargain prices.
"Is it original? Why is it so cheap?" a young woman, holding a Clinique lipstick, asked a cosmetic stall attendant, who quickly spouted off that the cosmetics on display were genunine brands.
Eventually, the woman was convinced and made the purchase. For the trader, it was part of a windfall, with numerous transactions likely during the day. For the office worker, it meant the convenience of time and energy saved in doing some shopping.
It's hard enough to sneak out of some office places for lunch, let alone to do some shopping. Getting home is a chore in itself, and most of us would rather spend time on the weekend with our families than traipse off to the mall.
That is part of the reason that vendors are bringing their wares to office buildings, a phenomenon that began in the city during the first years of the crisis in the late 1990s but continues today.
Several office buildings are frequently host to bazaars in their compounds -- some inside the buildings and others on the grounds -- with 20 to 30 traders selling various kinds of merchandise. The bazaars usually last from three to four days.
Vendors said it gives them excellent exposure.
"Every day at least nine to 10 items of clothing are sold and some (buyers) promise to visit my boutique," said Shianty, who owns Chiantie maternity boutique.
Her dresses range in price from Rp 130,000 (US$12.5) to Rp 250,000, relatively affordable for people working in the high- rises along Jl. Sudirman compared to brand goods sold at the mall.
Other top sellers were VCDs, priced at Rp 5,000 for pirated discs to originals for Rp 57,000, but customers also make savings on the taxi fares or parking fees they would shell out if they went to the mall.
Perfumes of various brands and different size bottles were also on sale, starting from Rp 35,000. A stall attendant said the most popular perfumes were those in small bottles of five milliliters (ml).
"Maybe it's because the buyers are working people who love practicality. The bottles can be put into a small beauty case with other stuff," he said.
At another stall, there was woven cloth pillowcases, bags, curtains, tablecloths, napkins, even cellular phone casings.
"The price is special for the bazaar but you still can bargain," said Dian, an attendant at Roemah Tawon stall whose shop is located in Kemang, South Jakarta.
Back at the cosmetics stall, women in their 20s and 30s, looking stylish in their neat office attire, swarmed around, inspecting eye shadow sticks, mascara, face powder and other merchandise of two reputable cosmetics manufacturers, Clinique and Yves Saint Laurent.
Stall owner Istiati Gusti Wahyuni from Adwis Collection said the price of the merchandise was cheap because they were samples which should not be sold over the counter.
"The samples are given if we buy the products from the supplier. At our real store, we don't sell these kinds of cosmetics," said Istiati, who owns a cosmetic counter at Ambassador Mall in South Jakarta.
Istiati said she regularly took part in the bazaar, held at least once a month at the Metropolitan building. Her other stall is at Wisma Danamon, also on Jl. Sudirman, where a similar bazaar is also held.
A private company employee, Meidiana, was thankful for the bazaar, saying that she came upon what she needed while taking a lunchtime stroll.
"Here I've found nice, beautiful green pillow cases from woven cloth and I didn't need to go to Kemang (to the store)," she said.