Pandemic Hits Small Shop Owners: 'How Do I Pay My Employees?'

Click to read the article in Turkish

"My business fell off 80 percent. I have three employees. Time for rent and bills have come. I don't know how I will pay salaries to my employees. If I close the shop, it's a problem, if I don't close, it's another problem. I do not know what to do."

This is how Çağlayan Kekeç (35), a small shop owner in the northwestern Bursa province, describes the situation in a phone call. He is only one of the many shop owners whose business has come to a halt during the pandemic.

Kekeç runs a technical service shop for white goods and has three employees. "I can handle it for one month at most. Then I can neither pay employees nor make ends meet," he says.

As part of his job, he goes to customers' homes and shops. "Naturally, I have concerns about whether I will catch [the virus], transmit it to my family. When I come home, I change my clothes in another room. I put my clothes into the washing machine and take a shower. Although we put on gloves and masks, we are afraid."

Rents and bills

"One and a half months ago, my daily turnover was around 1200 lira [1 US dollar=6.60 lira]. It is currently down to 250-300 liras. I keep my shop open for now, I have to keep it, but I may close it after a few days.

"Three people are working with me, my brother and my father are with me. The phone bills of the shop have come, the salaries of the staff are coming, the rent is coming. I don't know what to do.

"The monthly expense of my shop is 10 thousand lira on average. If I make 300 lira a day, I will earn 9 thousand lira a month and I will make a loss. I don't have 300 or 500 thousand lira in my stash to compensate for my losses. I don't have a house to sell, to pay the salaries of my employees.

"Türk Telekom sends a message, reminding that the due date of bills passed. On the other hand, it circulates ads on TVs, saying, 'Türk Telekom is with you.' You are with me?

"Other bills won't be much different. The day of the rent almost came. I spoke with the property owner. He said, 'I'm also stuck, I don't have another income.' He is also right. I will pay as much as I can pay this month.

"The government makes us more stressed"

"We don't expect the government to pay our rents, but it can make a decree and postpone our debts. It doesn't do this, it doesn't relieve us. On the contrary, it makes us more stressed. It forces us to take out a loan. But a month later, two months later, the day I will pay for it will come. How am I going to pay when there is no business?

"Our business was already not good due to the economic crisis. There was a slowdown in the market. Now we have no hope. It is expected that the virus will go away and the economy will recover no earlier than the end of summer. Many factories halted production in Bursa. People are at home. When this is the case, people who have money hesitate to spend it.

"Let's say I dismissed workers, I put them on unpaid leave. What will these people do? It's already difficult to find a job. Then what will I do? I have a family to take care of. I have two children. There are rents for my house, my shop.

"We will close the shop on Wednesday and work one or two days a week. But in this case, I can continue for a month at most. This is our situation. It's not pleasant at all. Both ends of the stick are shitty. (HA/VK)