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Indoor mall takes on Jerusalem's famed open-air market
AVI MACHLIS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - In front of Haim Ohana's fish stand in the Mahane Yehuda open-air market here, a pre-Rosh Hashana crowd of shoppers gathers as usual - even though a spanking new indoor mall has just opened down the block.
Ohana, 40, whose stand has been in Mahane Yehuda for 25 years, is not bothered by the new competition. "We aren't threatened by it at all," he says, as he fills another bag with some holiday carp. "That's not Mahane Yehuda. Mahane Yehuda is natural; it comes from the soul. Can you believe they put fans in that place!"
The new $40 million indoor mall already has 74 shops and can hold another 180 on its upper levels. It offers the convenience of shopping carts and parking, both of which are lacking in the outdoor market. It also boasts tight security - an important asset considering that Mahane Yehuda has been a target for Palestinian terrorists.
The attempt to merge a traditional outdoor market with a contemporary indoor mall is the latest sign of a transformation of shopping habits as Israel evolves from an emerging to a developed economy. During the past decade, supermarkets have popped up in Israeli neighborhoods, while small corner stores are quickly becoming extinct. And this can be expected to continue, with supermarket chains mulling the launch of massive expansion plans, which include the opening of special supermarkets targeting the Orthodox and Arab populations.
So far, there is only a sparse flow of shoppers in the new mall, and vendors admit it could take several months before they find out whether the idea has commercial potential. Managers of the new mall insist that they do not intend to replace Mahane Yehuda's shuk, or market.
"We are not against the shuk," says Omer Karchi, administrative director of the mall. "We just want to attract more shoppers to the area."
But some stall owners in the new complex see a battle developing between the outdoor and indoor markets, and they think that the mall will eventually win.
"In time, people will move over to us," says Moshe Tsur, 58, who shut down his Mahane Yehuda stall to sell grapes, pineapples and mangos in the new center. Tsur points to shoppers pushing their carts. "How much longer can people schlep heavy bags in their hands?" he asks.
Tsur promises that the new indoor market will preserve the atmosphere of the outdoor shuk - complete with vendors shouting each other down in public pricing duels, the free-market trademark of Mahane Yehuda.
But a glance around the indoor market reveals some differences that Mahane Yehuda fans are likely to lament if mall culture eventually renders market culture extinct. All of the 74 shops on the ground floor are framed with the same standard blue trim paint, compared to the Mahane Yehuda stalls of different shapes, colors and character. Aisles in the mall are perfectly straight, while Mahane Yehuda's alleys twist and turn in every direction.
Some indoor shops are clearly more upscale than what is to be found at the outdoor market, which caters to low-income shoppers. But much of the simplicity that characterizes Mahane Yehuda is nowhere to be found in the mall.
So far, confident Mahane Yehuda stall owners are welcoming the mall - which has provided desperately needed parking to the area. "It's a great thing for us," says Yehuda Ezra, 52. "People are parking down there and walking up here to shop."
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