CAIRO: Abdel Aziz Street on Attaba Square is well-known for being a cheap outlet for the different brands of cell phones. Walking through it, you are met by vendors offering great deals to either sell or buy a cell phone.
This market – initially located in Suq Al Gomaa – evolved three years ago, and has now overshadowed many well-known mobile traders in the country.
Located near the Attaba Police Station, the area is naturally packed with police officers either walking through the crowds or observing at a distance. But the market does not seem to be a concern for them anymore.
“What can we do? said one officer. “They aren’t doing anything illegal. They are just earning a living, he added.
Originally, the crowd of sellers occupied the whole street, but, according to one vendor, shop-owners who were threatened by this market reported them to the police that clamped them down and moved them to the street corner to be under the police station’s watch.
“I don’t really recommend that you go and deal with any of those individuals. Theirs is used merchandise that might have a lot of irreparable defects, said Hassan Salem, an employee at one of the cell phone shops.
“Also, most people are not familiar with the fact that the majority of these cell phones are stolen items, he added.
Ragi El Husseini, another shop assistant blames the consumers. Most of them don’t mind really getting duped to save a few pounds, he said.
But vendors on Abdel Aziz Street are not in it for the competition.
“We don’t to rival with the shops; we’re poor people who come here to earn a living … Those who can’t afford the prices of the shops come to us, said Marei, who came to Abdel Aziz street to sell a few used cell phones.
Abdel Nasser Rabib, another vendor is assuring buyers that if they buy merchandise for more than LE 1000, the vendor will provide them with his ID number and details, along with a paper documenting the purchase. So don’t feel uneasy about it, he said.
Efforts by nearby shops to eliminate this market failed. “We have done our best to disperse them. We threatened them, splashed water and brought thugs to scare them away, said Mukhtar Kamel, a trader in one of the shops. “They would disappear for one or two days and come back.
But Fathi, another shop-assistant, has a different opinion: “I admit that the majority of their merchandise is not authentic, but to tell the truth very few of them bring us good used pieces that we display in our shops. We know about the business so there is no way they can cheat us.
“We can’t ask them to leave the area; this trade has provided work for a lot of unemployed people. It’s better they for them to do any job than go and steal, Fathi added.
