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Furniture businesses and competition in the same area
There used to be some 4-5 qofte grills right at the Selvia crossroads in Tirana. The smoke and commotion surrounding every bite of grilled meat and every gulp of beer there were practically a mirror of doing business in Albania. Someone saw another person doing well and, for that reason alone, went and opened the same kind of business next door…
So, for just ten drinkers and qofte fanatics, “Selvia” had set the four pavement corners of the crossroads competing with one another, sending up smoke and pepper with every piece of grilled meat. Unfortunately, over time, the drinkers settled in another neighbourhood, Rruga e Kavajës, and Selvia’s qofte businessmen were left high and dry. Little by little they moved away, or switched their businesses to the new trend: betting shops or gambling halls.
It was precisely that period, about ten years ago, that came back to me as I was returning from a trip to the Alps. Why on earth did I remember that?! On the way back with some friends, along the Fushë-Krujë–Kamëz road, we were struck by the fact that the vast majority of businesses there were furniture shops.
On one corner, then another. Side by side. Even in the same building.
Endless showrooms, with all sorts of names.
Abaz Ulliri Furniture… Afrimi, Afmeti, Albeni, Alberti, Albori, Andi, Arali, Arbi… I am not joking!
I wrote down some of their names. They really are the names of furniture showrooms, and all of them had misspelt the Albanian word for a furniture business… “Mobileri” instead of “Mobilieri”…
“Mobileri” Bajram Luka… Ballkani, Bariu, Besi, Biondri, Bruno, Caca, Cani, Dashi, Doku, Donat, Edi, Edisoni, Emiljano, Endri, Enis, Epika, Eri, Geri, Gerti, Globi, Golden, Halili, Ideari, Ilgari, Joti, Juli, Keli, Kena, Klajdi, Koçi, Koli, Kristi, Kurti, Leo, Luxi, Pllumi, Reli, Rraja, Rudi, Sajmiri, Sela, Selmani, Sinani, Topalli, Tosi, Valteri or Vath-Xheka.
There were local names, Italian ones, even Turkish ones. When I got home, curiosity sent me straight to “Google Street” to look at them again. One was even called “Mobileri Inter”… When I saw it, I said to a friend of mine who supports Milan: “Would you accept a gift of some furniture for your home ordered from this shop?!”
From the village of Arrameras in Fushë-Krujë, where plane trees once gave shade, all the way to Kamëz, about 10 km in total, we counted 88 furniture businesses. To give an idea of the contrast with other kinds of business, we saw only 13 car washes and 15 filling stations or repair garages.
I have nothing against this area. I am sure most of its residents are very hardworking, since most of the businesses represented substantial investment. But looking at them brought back the days of the qofte grills at Selvia, and that business of undercutting one another by opening the same kind of shop next door.
I wonder what potential there would be if all 88 of these businesses in the same area came under one brand or company… What a fantastic “IKEA” that would be! But, as I said at the start… I have the impression that this “qofte” bug makes a great deal of smoke and keeps big ideas from developing!