Cuba Opens First Private Wholesale Store

Cuba's new entrepreneurs have complained that one of the things missing from President Raul Castro’s reforms is a wholesale market.

Currently, restaurant owners, hairdressers and snack-store owners have to buy their products in supermarkets at the same high prices as everyday consumers.

But one store may show that change is coming to Cuba.

At Zona+, produce is piled high up to the ceiling, like in a warehouse. Shop employees say the plan is eventually to sell everything in large amounts at discounted rates. They want to focus specifically on giving discounts to small businesses.

So far, Zona+ is offering only a few goods in bulk for reduced prices. But shoppers at Zona+ said it already has an advantage because it has more items than other stores in Cuba. Usually Cuba's supermarkets are half-empty.

Officials at CIMEX, the state commercial corporation that owns Zona+, declined to comment.

Last April, the Cuban government announced that some small companies would be able to buy supplies directly from government producers and wholesale outlets for the first time. However, this announcement did not say whether the reform would extend to the private sector.

Cuba often likes to experiment with ideas before making them official and extending them across the country. Reforms can also be reversed.

I’m Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.

Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth adapted this story for Learning English from a report by Reuters. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.