Business EN Advantage CD Are Malls Killing Israel's Small Business? NECHEMIA MEYERS Special to The Jewish News R ehovot — Herzl Street, the center of what used to be Rehovot's downtown, is a disaster area. Nearly half the shops are empty, and those still open report a decline in sales of from 25 to 50 percent. A series of factors is responsible for this development, which is duplicated in many other cities. The most impor- tant is the mushrooming of modern shopping areas outside the old down- town. In Rehovot, for example, a handsome new air-conditioned mall is attracting thousands of shoppers not only because of the wide variety of goods on sale, but also because it is a pleasant place to be on a hot summer day, of which there are all too many in this country. It also offers a plethora of fast-food outlets, ample free parking, play areas for kids and a multi-screen cinema. The opening of the mall was bad enough where Herzl Street merchants were concerned, but worse yet was the inauguration of two new shopping com- plexes just outside the city limits. And unlike their counterparts in Rehovot itself, they are open on Shabbat. This isn't strictly legal — there is a law prohibiting the employment of Jews in non-essential occupations on the Sabbath. But attempts by Israel's Orthodox minister of the interior to enforce the law — by sending out his Druze inspectors Saturday after Saturday to fine the Jewish offenders — have not been effective, largely because the general public supports the "law- breakers." Recent developments are a rerun of what happened in Israel some three decades ago when the first supermarkets were opened. There were noisy and sometimes even violent demonstrations by grocery store owners, who com- plained that they would be driven out of business by the new enterprises. But the protests were of no avail and super- markets soon began operating all over the country. Now, ironically enough, those same supermarkets are finding it difficult to compete with huge warehouse-type out- lets, where prices are 10 percent lower than in the old-style supermarkets. The Small Merchants Association is calling for stricter enforcement of the Shabbat law and for government assistance to its members in their unequal struggle against the giants. But it is unlikely to be successful in either effort. To the extent that smaller enter- prises will survive, it will only be by finding niches where they have some advantage over their competitors. Even on Herzl Street, for example, hole-in-the wall shops selling cheap shmattas are holding their own because the malls — where rents are high — don't generally house purvey- ors of such merchandise. And there are even a fair number of successful corner groceries in operation. The reason: people who do their major shopping at the supermarkets or the warehouses don't bother to drive there when all they need are a couple of loaves of bread, a few cartons of cottage cheese and some low-Et milk. Instead they walk to their neighbor- hood grocery, where they will probably also stock up on a few additional items. The current recession is hurting all busi- nesses. But the big chains in the shop- ping centers are better able to weather the storm than are the small shops along Herzl Street.❑ APY 11-MONTH ADVANTAGE CD Earn higher interest with D&N's Advantage CD when you open and maintain a D&N checking account with a $100 minimum opening balance. 11-Month Certificate of Deposit requires a deposit of $5,000 or more. Annual Percentage Yield as of 8/7/98. Substantial penalty for early withdraw'. Personal accounts only. 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DETROIT JEWISE mows N Detroit Jewish News 8/7 1998 113