Business News Asian stores are the ‘heroes’ of Covid-19
Heroic Asian convenience stores in Birmingham have continued to serve local communities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic despite losing staff, friends and family to the disease. These efforts are highlighted in a
new podcast prepared by Aston Business School, Birmingham. The businesses initially had no
PPE, so created their own, quickly adapting to the lockdown with safe distancing, and giving food away to the vulnerable. The sector is reluctant to apply
for Government assistance, but the crisis has sparked rapid modernisation and renewed customer loyalty, the podcast shows. Anwar Karim, a director of Karim Supermarkets in Lozells, Birmingham, said many people in his community had died in recent weeks, including a family staff member of a nearby store, various customers and close family friends. But he said the sector had
determinedly remained open and had adapted to the crisis to help keep local customers connected and supplied with goods. Mr Karim revealed his
experiences in episode three of a
Ready to serve: Members of the Karim family at their supermarket in Lozells, Birmingham
podcast series called “Aston means business: SMEs adapting to Covid- 19 challenges”, presented by journalist Steve Dyson. Professor Monder Ram, the
director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School, said in the podcast that resilient Asian retail businesses were among the “heroes” of the pandemic. Mr Karim, whose supermarket
has been trading since 1984, said: “Our main focal point has been we live in the community, we work for
the community and if so we’ll die for the community. “When we started off with this
PPE clothing, it was like: ‘Where do we actually get this from?’ We started using what we’re selling in our shops, which were washing up gloves. “We located some and [thought]
if we’re going to buy disposable gloves and masks for ourselves, why not just buy more and give them out to every single customer. We did that for weeks and didn’t charge them a penny.
“We’re at massive risk.
Sometimes I sit here and I look left and right at colleagues that were here a few months ago and they’re not here with us now. And I’m talking about the generation my father’s age. A lot of friends, colleagues and customers his age have passed away.” Mr Karim explained that he was
well networked with the local council and universities to get information about assistance. But he said many in his community were reluctant to ask for help. He said: “The biggest change is
going into a cashless society. In warehouses and markets we have to start buying everything on card rather than cash. On the positive side, people have appreciated the small convenience store, the corner shop, supermarkets locally [are a] solid, important market sector [they] forgot about. “We’ve won a lot of customers
back. Going forward we have a lot of phone orders coming through. We’re just taking it in now and thinking we can do things differently.”
To listen to the podcast go to:
www2.aston.ac.uk/aston-business- school/podcast
Strategies to support your employees through the challenges of furlough, return to work and redundancy, prioritising your brand integrity and perception, whilst maintaining their engagement.
JANE GALVEZ: 07771 780 146 //
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August/September 2020 CHAMBERLINK 15
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