Senen market's traders are not afraid of competition from Atrium

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the common belief that traditional traders can't compete with modern shopping centers, Senen market traders say they are not afraid of competition from the nearby Atrium shopping arcade, which opened in 1992.

Elyati, a tailor and owner of a cloth shop named Robitex, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that she is not worried that about being outshone by her Atrium competitors.

"We have different market targets," she explained.

A similar statement was made by two other Senen market merchants, A Wie, a clock shop owner, and Sulaeman, a vegetable seller. Both agreed that the modern shopping complex is not a threat to their business. They shared Elyati's conviction that the demand for a traditional market's goods and atmosphere are still strong.

While neither of them blamed their competitors for the declines in revenue they have witnessed since last year, they did confirm that not all traditional traders in the city have been able to survive the competition from modern shopping places, including supermarkets.

Elyati said that before Idul Fitri of this year her daily sales ranged from Rp 700,000 ($324) to Rp 800,000 ($371), but since then she has never made more than about Rp 200,000 ($92).

Elyati, who has occupied a space in the market since the 1970s, said that the low prices of ready-to-wear garments are the reason behind her declining business. The country's sluggish economy, she said, has forced people to cut down on their clothing budgets.

A Wie, who has been selling clocks in the market since 1967, said that when the economy is stronger, the shop's daily sales can reach as high as Rp 800,000 (US$371). Since early 1993, however, a year after the Atrium was built, the shop's revenue has fallen to approximately Rp 400,000 ($185).

Veronica M. Saputra, the leasing manager for PT Segitiga Atrium, which owns the Atrium, told the Post that the construction of the department store was not aimed at creating competition with traditional traders. The Atrium, she said, only sells goods for middle and upper class shoppers.

During the interview she said that since the opening of the modern shopping center two years ago, 20 percent of its total floor space has remained unoccupied. By her estimation, the oversupply of space is due to the completion of several new shopping centers in Jakarta. There is also the problem of the old image of Senen, which sticks in the minds of many Jakartans as a crime-ridden area.

According to Veronica, the company tries to maintain a harmonious relationship with traditional traders by giving some small-scale handicraft traders space inside the Atrium's corridors.

She said under the agreement the traders are entitled to occupy the space in the Atrium's corridors and are provided with three stalls. All that is asked of them is to give 20 percent of their monthly revenues to the company, she said.(03)