The Curious Case of a Big Chinese Products Store in Havana

Employees said there had been a theft in the warehouse, and they were awaiting an audit, which is why they could no longer provide services.

By Francisco Acevedo

HAVANA TIMES – Nothing has been more viral in Cuba these days than the unexpected closure of a Chinese wholesale store in Havana under rather strange circumstances.

One might think this is a local or isolated case, but it is not. It reflects the chaotic way things work in this country. Let’s get into the details.

To start, it’s important to clarify that this is not the first Chinese store that opened in Havana in recent months. In December, GD-Mart was inaugurated, a joint venture between the local Tiendas Caribe and the Chinese company Guangdong Stationery & Sporting Goods, Corp. However, online payments were only accepted from abroad.

There is also the newly established Dofimall, mainly focused on importing from abroad, with an inventory of industrial and agricultural equipment and machinery, as well as automotive, hardware, furniture, textiles, leather, and other products made in China. In neither of these cases are these stores really intended for the average Cuban consumer.

Returning to the controversial store, called “China Import,” it is located at the intersection of Manglar and Oquendo streets in the Cerro municipality of the capital and belongs to the Chinese chain Nihao53.

The warehouse, very close to the iconic Cuatro Caminos Market (the one from the famous stampede when it opened in 2019, remember?), sold wholesale products at quite competitive prices compared to the offers from other companies and businesses, but with a somewhat particular policy, not typical in Cuba.

The final purchase had to exceed $50, which, with the fluctuating exchange rate of around 320 pesos per dollar, amounts to 16,000 pesos—a figure already prohibitive for most of the Cuban population. But it wasn’t as if you could buy whatever you wanted, since the products had a minimum quantity predetermined by the owners, which could be up to 12 units.

In other words, besides spending a good sum of money, you had to buy perhaps repeated products that you didn’t need, so the main buyers were resellers and owners of small and medium private businesses (SMEs), because the prices there were indeed lower compared to the rest.

The store offered a variety of goods, from clothing and footwear to imitation colognes, prescription glasses, small electrical appliances, and household items, with the particularity that they did not accept returns.

The first problem arose with transfers. Initially, they accepted international platforms like Qva Pay, TropiPay, Lian Lian, international bank transfers, or domestic ones via Transfermóvil and EnZona. However, connectivity issues arose, and in recent days everything was cash-only.

Up until then, everything was more or less fine, but last Thursday, the store had a sign reading “closed until further notice,” and speculations began.

Employees we spoke to said there had been a theft in the warehouse, and they were awaiting an audit, which is why they could no longer provide services.

The theft was later not mentioned again, not even when we wrote to the phone number posted on the perimeter fence to inquire further about the matter. That number was later removed from the makeshift sign, evidently because there were too many calls and messages.

If there had really been missing goods as we were told that day, it would be a serious matter, as it is a completely fenced-in facility with only one entrance, and the level of shortage mentioned would have been impossible to remove without heavy transportation, which can only enter through the guarded gate. This implies the involvement of the workers at the site.

Whether the theft is true or not, the audit was confirmed in both cases. But the strange thing is that when a company undergoes such an inspection, it doesn’t remove all the advertising from the place, as happened in this case. By that same Thursday, the product promotions at the store’s entrance were gone, replaced by the old sign of Suchel Debon, the former name of the soap factory that once operated there.

Even though the duration of the closure is uncertain, no one who intends to continue operating removes the promotions, which suggests that “El Chino,” as the owner is popularly known (even though he is Cuban), got fed up and preferred to close permanently, at least in that location.

There is speculation that the commotion caused by videos circulating on social media —since the store had been operating for over a month without any issues— caught the attention of some official who, perhaps urged by another private business owner (who may also be a relative of the official), questioned the payment method in the informal exchange market, which is not allowed for other businesses.

The issue is that supposedly this was approved by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which raises serious questions about the way business is handled in this country.

The supposed relaxation of economic policies halts when it clashes with the interests of some “cabezón,” (bigwig) as officials or their relatives are called in Cuba.

In this specific case, it vindicates those who took advantage of the first month to hoard and now resell, because the competition no longer exists, which is exactly the opposite of what was intended.

While it was logical that resellers would be the main customers at the beginning, once it was clear that the store was going to continue operating, those individuals would have tended to disappear, as customers could go directly to the source to get the best price, and the resellers would have products with much less demand.

However, right now, and if the business is not resumed, those individuals will be able to sell what they acquired at “China Import” at whatever price they choose, because they are simply the only ones who possess those products.

It’s still too early to draw a definitive conclusion, but this smells like improvisation. If it’s not, it would be worse, because it would mean failing to fulfill the commitment made with a foreign investor, and that is a luxury Cuba’s impoverished economy cannot afford.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.