Iraqis flock to consumer goods

By Mark Magnier
Los Angeles Times

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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Wedged between the reports of murder and mayhem, the headline in the local newspaper was eye-catching: "Should you change your wallpaper for lighter tones?" it asked. "Do it once and you'll see the results."

Although there are no lifestyle magazines yet, no Baghdad style mavens and little cause for celebration until some basic security is in place, people are starting to improve a part of life they can control: the world behind their high walls and locked front doors.

Slowly but surely, ordinary Iraqis are redoing floors, hanging curtains, buying new pictures and feathering their nests after years of doing without.

Furniture and upholstery sellers are reporting strong demand, as are lighting companies, building contractors and plant stores.

"I've been in this business a long time," said Muthana Fahawi, a carpet merchant for 25 years in Baghdad's Karada neighborhood. "Anyone who says the economy isn't improving isn't telling the truth. You can feel the money starting to flow."

Waleed Abdul-Hussain is among those with money burning a hole in his pocket. In the last few months, his laundry business has picked up after years in the doldrums, giving him the confidence to reupholster his couch and buy a new television, a satellite dish, a rug and two small tables.

"We started with the little things we really needed," he said, relaxing in his small apartment off Palestine Street as his three children crawled in his lap. "Now we're also thinking of building another room off the kitchen."

Fueling the early recovery are higher government wages, a newly resurgent middle class and the initial sums of what will be hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction money coursing through the economy.

The government is in the process of hiring thousands of police officers and troops. It has raised the salaries of teachers and other civil servants by as much as thirtyfold over those in Saddam Hussein's days.
 
And there still aren't a lot of tax collectors, so the money tends to buy more. A small television set that used to cost the equivalent of $150 after import taxes, for instance, now goes for $80.

Three wars, decades of economic mismanagement and a 13-year United Nations embargo have left Iraq with enormous pent-up demand. Few ordinary Iraqis could afford to sink much into their homes over the last decade. On the contrary, many were forced to sell appliances and furniture to make ends meet.

"If you don't have enough to eat, you don't go buying houseplants," said Haider Mohammed, owner of a plant nursery in the shadow of the national stadium. "Now we're even seeing poor people out for a look."

There may even be a psychological component, as a battered and bruised population indulges in a bit of shopping therapy to brighten its spirits.

"You're starting to see people enjoy all the gadgetry, the freedom to buy again, even the chance to show off a bit," said Ihsan Hassan, a sociologist with the University of Baghdad.

A survey in late March by several news organizations, including the British Broadcasting Corp., found that 55 percent of Iraqis were more confident than they had been a year ago and that more than 70 percent thought next year would be better. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most people still lack the confidence to go on major spending sprees, but they are coming out of their shells enough to buy one item at a time.

"Rather than buy a whole living-room set, you'll see them buy one piece each month," said Abu Ali, owner for the last decade of a large furniture store in Baghdad's Adhamiya district.

Jealousy also is helping to open pocketbooks, retailers say.

"It's a huge source of business," Iyad Moustaf, the owner of a small reupholstery company, said as he rattled away on a 20-year-old sewing machine to the sounds of an Iraqi singer on the radio. "One wife gets something, the neighbor has to match it or do better."

More media channels and more open borders have enabled Madison Avenue to move into the country as well.

"As people watch more TV, they're seeing these foreign brands and just grabbing them," said Abu Muslim Akil, 34, manager of the Butterfly Electronics shop here. He was sitting at a desk surrounded by boxed juicers, VCRs, telephones, irons, freezers and ice crushers.

But even as more and more Iraqis are out browsing and buying, many still are struggling. "If I could only get a job with the police," said Hameed Mustafa, 40, who was selling women's shawls on the road outside a Baghdad shrine. "I've made $8 or $10 today and have three kids. We're getting by, but that's about it."

Iraqi economist Humam Shamaa said the U.S.-led coalition is awarding contracts to a relatively small circle of foreign companies and elite Iraqi subcontractors.

"The majority of Iraqis will be shut out," he said. "I don't expect a big change in average people's living standards." In the Saddam regime's final years, Iraq's middle class all but disappeared at the hands of the embargo and a declining economy, merchants say.

As a result, the only ones out shopping were the very rich, including members of the president's family, "Tikrit people" from Saddam's hometown and senior officials, including members of Iraq's dreaded Mukhabarat secret service.

Even then, merchants gripe, some wouldn't pay, leaving them in a bind.

"You couldn't exactly take them to court," said Dauvaod Mohammed, owner of Baghdad's Kitchen Furniture.

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