Shopping - Part 3

A new ‘import shop’ has opened in N’Djamena. You might not think that this is worthy of a blog post but, even for a ‘non-shopper’ like me this is an exciting event.

This shop is smaller than the other three main stores, that cater to the international and wealthy Chadian consumer but it is well stocked and has some positive features:

• Everything is clean and the goods are tidily stacked on the shelves in a fairly logical order (not necessarily a feature of all the shops here!)
• For quite a number of products the prices are slightly cheaper than the other shops. I guess time will tell if these are actually ‘opening offers’
• There is a larger selection of both cooked and frozen meats than any of the other shops and, surprisingly, this includes bacon – a rare commodity in this city
• One whole shelf is full of beer, wine and spirits, which is something the other shops don’t stock at all. Alcohol is available in the city – in restaurants and in local bars – but it is not something you see around you all the time
• An assistant carried my shopping basket around for me. I am not sure if this is a standard feature of their customer service or was just because she was bored.

They have yet to get a till so my bill was added up on a calculator and there was no receipt so I have to trust that they charged me correctly. Somehow this didn't seem so bad for what was a reasonably pleasant shopping experience (and pleasant and shopping are not words I naturally put together in the same sentence!)

A definite added bonus is that it has not yet been discovered by the street sellers and beggars so I was able to walk to and from my car without being followed by an assortment of small children and young men.

I shall certainly be going back there.  I suspect it will soon become a favourite shop of the ex-pat community but at the moment it is a bit of a hidden gem.