In the new holguin dollar store the return is also in caramelos

Holguin/The middle balloons flaccid in the payment box and the requirement of paying dollars are the only things that changed in the water store of Frexes Street, in the city of Holguín, after its reopening this week. With dollarization, which promises to expand to each of the Cuban provinces, new products or expected remodeling of the property did not reach the premises.

Many did not even notice the metamorphosis of the store, which only changed the poster in which the cards in freely convertible currency (MLC) were listed before and now asks , all in hard currency.

Inside, the shelves exhibit the same soaps, shampoos, detergents and creams that before, but in greater quantity. “They are full to the top,” Mercedes tells this newspaper, a holguinera who long time ago did not see such an assorted state store. Unfortunately, he says, they do not sell food, only toilet products. ”

Upon hearing the rumor of the store’s opening, the woman approached looking for a chicken package or some chopped tube that could add to rice, but found a list of products very different from those I expected: wet wipes at 2.80 , 2.50 bath gel, 3.25 dust detergent, oral rinse at 1.50 or female pads at 2.80. No frozen meats or seasoning.

Resigned, the holguinera waited in the tail – controlled by the workers who only allow the passage of four or five clients at the same time – until it could enter. Tours the shelves and chosen soaps and a package of sanitary paper went to the box. The total was 5.80 dollars that he wanted to pay in cash. The return: 4 dollars and candies for the value of 20 cents.

“The return, if possible they give it to you in dollars if the amount is in round numbers. If it is fractional, for example, in 0.80, they give you a product such as soap or, if it is smaller, candy, ”describes Mercedes, more stunned than annoying the procedure, which ensures more currency for the store.

The excuse, the woman tells after listening to the explanation of the cashier, is that “they try to make people leave without having to give him often because they do not have.”

They also prefer cash payment, something that customers have had to assume due to constant blackouts. “If the light goes, the card reader does not work and it is not bought.” In those cases, Mercedes adds, it is better to ensure the purchase having “the green” in hand.

The soap and water store belongs to the Italian Italian chain that since 2015 opened more than 50 shops on the island. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when the hygienic measures were extreme, many families went to the premises, in MLC, to Buy hand gels, soaps and other cleaning products.

During that time, and until now, the chain suffered the same scarcity of merchandise as the rest of the state businesses. Now, like the rest of the stores open in dollars, water and soap promises a place assorted, but Mercedes recognizes in the words of the officials the same proposals with which the stores in MLC established.

Then, the government promised that they would be raising dollars for a year, but they still exist and are being replaced by the new “partial dollarization” model. On this change, Mercedes thinks, “we will see how long they last.”