Fabric, spare parts and dates only in name

Just a few steps from the World Trade Center and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' skyscraper, is one of Cairo's most intriguing souqs. Here, at Wekalat Al Balah, people come from all around Cairo to buy some of the cheapest clothing, fabric, make-up and all sorts of new and used automotive spare parts.

Wekalat Al Balah (Market of Dates) is a more than one-hundred-year-old shopping center which was established late in the last century by merchants trading in a variety of goods. According to area shop owners, there were lots of palm trees at the time from which sprung the market's name.

In front of the Wekalat there was a small port where sinking ships were towed. People living in the nearby areas used to sell the salvageable cargo from these ships at very cheap prices. Sometimes this included clothing and fabrics, and at other times, boats were stripped of parts which could be refitted to other boats or put to other uses.

"The business then was expanded as some traders began selling used clothes and second hand spare parts. Some merchants prospered and the area developed such that shops selling additional types of products were established in the Wekalat," says Qadry Attalah, owner of a shop which sells new clothing.

The Wekalat is divided into areas according to the kind of products they sell. Clothing and fabric stores are found near the area's center and spare parts are found on the periphery near the bank of the Nile.

"We sell more because of our cheap prices. I have customers coming from other governorates," Attalah explains. "I sell clothing in my shop of the same quality as that sold in downtown shops."

Some of Al Wekalat's customers, like Nadia and Wafa Khalil, disagree with Attalah concerning the quality of products sold there.

"Stuff like new clothing is cheaper than any other place in Cairo, but I think they are not of the same quality. We call such product farz thany (second grade)," Nadia says.

The Wekalat sells second hand clothes as well. It is not unusual to see villagers coming from other governorates making their way through the area.

"They get very good imported and Egyptian-made clothing. They are so clean and ironed that you can't tell they are used," says Nadia Said who works for Mugama Al Tugaary store in the Wekalat.

Wholesale items in bulk are also sold in the Wekalat to retailers around

the country.

"There are well-known bulk traders in the Wekalat. Because of their reasonable prices, shop owners buy up from these stores," says Magdy Amin, the owner of a fabric shop.

A new breed of merchants crowd the streets of the Wekalat when the majority of stores are closed on Sundays. These itinerant vendors carry their goods from one market to the other making a circuit around the city.

"We buy used clothing from Port Said each week and sell it in Wekalat Al Balah, the Thursday Market in Al Mataraya, the Tuesday Market in Al Mounib [near Maadi] and the Friday Market in Imbaba," says Mahbouba Ali, a clothes vendor trying to sell her goods in the open air.

"We don't pay more than E£2 for any item of clothing and we can sell it for more than E£3 sometimes. Our customers are very poor people who cannot afford to buy new clothes even from the Wekalat's shops," she adds.

The atmosphere of the area may be completely transformed when the governorate begins carrying out a renovation and renewal project. Wekalat Al Balah may be removed and relocated to another location.

It is not a problem for traveling vendors since they can go to any other market, but for Wekalat's shop owners, the situation is not so simple.

"We don't know when or where we are going, we have to wait and see. We have only just heard rumors saying the Wekalat will be moved from this area," says Attalah. Yomna Kamel