New doesn’t always mean better

By Vatapuia Maiava 07 October 2016, 12:00AM

Sometimes having something new doesn’t make it any better. 

For Pauli Logo Fa’asolo, from the village of Salelologa, he says the new Salelologa market has caused many problems for his new business.

Aged 38, Pauli is a veteran market vendor who has seen many changes since the new market had been built.

“I have been running my small business for over ten years now,” he told the Village Voice.

“I have been here from the time of the old market right up until today’s new market. There is a really big difference between the old market and the new.

“The new market is located in an isolated area close to just bush and trees. The old market was near the bank where many people were always walking around.

“I prefer the old market to the new one. There were way more customers there.”

Pauli says that one of the issues with the new market is the amount of competition they now run into.

“The money I make depends on a lot of factors,” he said.

“There are a lot of costs towards getting these items because I don’t make it. I purchase them and sell them for a small profit.

“So I have to always try and make more profit than I spend. So this new market has been making that very hard for me because sales are very slow.

“The old market hardly had businesses like this but that has changed too. There are so many people doing this sort of business now which creates competition.

“Competition is different here compared to Apia because you have more people walking around looking for things to buy.

“As soon as it hits 5pm over here there won’t be anyone around to buy because they will all be making their way home. In Apia you will still have people buying late at night.

“So competition for customers here in Savaii is very tough.”

According to Pauli, profit has dropped dramatically since the opening of the new market.

“Sometimes I would make a little over $100 every day nowadays,” he said.

“Before, I would make more than $500 a day which is a very big drop. These goods aren’t the only things we sell, we also rely a lot on vegetable sales which provides a lot of profit for us.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 07 October 2016, 12:00AM

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