The dollar stores that Tiendas Caribe and Cimex have begun to open in the provincial capitals have given their final blow.
14ymedio, José Lassa/Natalia López Moya, Havana, February 13, 2025 — “They have fans for sale in Roseland, hurry up,” writes a user in a WhatsApp group where hundreds of customers meet to monitor stores in freely convertible currency (MLC) in Havana. Following the trail of products in those State shops has become a full-time task due to the shortages that keep their refrigerators and shelves practically empty.
After touring several markets of this type in the Cuban capital, Yusimí, 43, arrived at one quite far from his home: the Puentes Grandes Shopping Center, located on the corner of 26th and 51st streets. “I haven’t been to this place for years, and it left me cold,” he said when he came across the holes in the floor at the entrance. That damage was only a part of the deterioration he found inside.
Practically empty of customers and products, the huge warehouse that once belonged to the Telva towel factory barely had a few cans of tomato sauce, some beach flip-flops and a few appliances with expensive prices and dubious quality. “This was a high-end store and now it’s scary to go inside; not even the lights work well,” lamented Yusimí, who, finally, “in order not to waste the trip” ended up buying a couple of cans of beets.
The place was inaugurated as a shopping center in 2014, under the management of the military corporation Cimex. “The lines were constant because it was very well stocked,” recalls a former employee, who evokes those first years with nostalgia. “People came from all over Havana, because we had a very good supply of perfume and food. The hardware store also attracted a lot of customers, but the best thing we offered was the great variety of appliances.”
At that time, the authorities even announced that the market would have a web-browsing room and a Wi-Fi area that were never installed. “We even offered a gourmet assortment with good cheeses and very fine chocolates,” recalls the employee. It is difficult to reconcile that image of full shelves, well-dressed workers and customers who carried baskets full of goods with the empty refrigerators and listlessness of the employees today.
“When they removed the convertible peso in 2021, the decline began,” the woman says. The suppliers began to fail: “Cimex supplied sometimes yes and sometimes no, until only a few customers came every day.” The conversion of the store to sales in MLC (hard currency) initially seemed to revive it. “We thought that, since in the end they were dollars that people had deposited in the bank to make the purchase, the supply was not going to be lacking, since we were talking about hard currency.” Less than five years later, the only thing left of that splendor is the bright white paint on the facade.
The final push was given to the stores in MLC by the dollar shops that, through the network of Caribe and Cimex Stores, began to open in the capitals of each of the 15 Cuban provinces. The flagship of that process is the 3rd and 70th Supermarket, on the ground floor of the luxury Gran Muthu Habana hotel, which only accepts payment in that currency, both by card and in cash. While on the platforms of the brand new store there are plenty of goods, at 26th and 51st every day more products are missing.
The scene is repeated in another of the large MLC stores in Havana. The market of Boyeros and Camagüey has followed the same route as its cousin from Puentes Grandes. Recently several officials assured on national television that the freely convertible currency will be maintained, but there has been much speculation about the disappearance of the stores in MLC, and the owners of accounts in that virtual money have fewer and fewer options to spend it.
What three years ago was a parking lot, where a space was barely empty for a few brief minutes before it was occupied by another vehicle, there is now an almost empty esplanade. On the outskirts of the store, this Wednesday, a custodian replied to a customer that they had no chicken or picadillo in the butcher shop. “They haven’t put it out this week, and we don’t know if they’re going to stock up in the next few days,” the worker explained vaguely.
Inside, the floors have holes in several areas, and the shelves are almost empty or filled with the same product. “I came to get olives and Castilian flour, but there isn’t any,” concluded a customer who finally bought a package of custard, family size, so as not to leave empty-handed. Away from the most central neighborhoods, buyers who have a vehicle arrive at Boyeros and Camagüey, a very small number in a city where getting fuel can take several days in line.
With many lights off, the interior of the store not only leaves an image of deterioration but also an unpleasant smell. “The light comes on, the light goes out; the refrigerator holds out for a while but not much, and the products are spoiled,” is how a worker in the storage area summarizes the situation. “There are many employees who have asked for leave, because working like this is not worth it.”
A couple walking down one of the aisles finally decides on a package of peas and a bag of imported sugar. The woman looks at her cell phone and tells the man that in the WhatsApp group where she is registered they have just published a new ad. “They have sausages and Gouda cheese in La Puntilla,” she says, and they leave at full speed to get to the Miramar neighborhood. There, another MLC store, out of stock, with broken floors and no lights, awaits them.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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