Distraught trader stopped from selling olives in Gloucester market
THE career of a distraught stall trader dubbed "the olive man" has been left in tatters after he was refused permission to trade.
Zouhaier Kahla, of Park Road, Gloucester, claims he has been forced off his stall and out of Eastgate Indoor Market.
The 41-year-old was given one week to pack together his stock after the council said he could not sell olives or spices.
Mr Kahla, who has worked in the market for five years for another trader, is now out of work and has been left in tears.
He said: "I am very, very worried. I have no job, I'm now staying at home.
"I'm concerned for my business, all the money I have saved up over the last five years.
"I like this job, I don't want another one, this is what I do."
Fears
Mr Kahla launched his own Mediterranean food stall a few weeks ago, selling couscous, tajine and Brec salads after his five-year stint working for a fellow trader came to an end.
But the council found out he was selling olives and told him he had to stop because another stall in the market was already selling the fruit.
He has spent more than £3,000 of his savings on decorating the stall and buying equipment and has now been left with huge amounts of stock.
"Competition is fair," he said.
"All my customers say they are happy and want to buy my olives.
"All my stall does is offer more options for customers."
Mr Kahla has paid £300 in rent but the council has refused to accept any more until he agrees not to sell any more olives.
At the moment he is not trading at all and is waiting in the hope the council changes its mind.
Markets manager Sheila McDaid said: "It is not the council's normal practice to allow stalls to sell predominantly the same items as another, especially during these challenging economic times."
Marcus Grodentz, spokesman for the city council, said Mr Kahla had not stuck to the original agreement.
He said: "We are only too happy to support Mr Kahla but his stall is a carbon copy of another in the market.
"Our policy is very clear. There are a lot of traders trying to get off the ground and make a living. It is grossly unfair to them."
A spokesman for the Eastgate Traders' Association said the situation had been fully explained to the committee and it was an issue between the council and Mr Kahla.
46 Comments
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by Michael, Gloucester
Friday, September 10 2010, 7:06AM
“Gloucester City Council aren't going to answer the comments made here, they never do.
We're not in posession of the facts, just the Citizen's spin on them.
The story does say that he had not stuck to the original agreement. That suggests a breach of contract to me. Perhaps he agreed not to sell products that were already available in the market when he hired the stall, but then ignored that agreement”
by WML, Stroud
Friday, September 10 2010, 1:32AM
“The article states that his new stall also sold couscous, tajine and Brec salads. So presumably he could continue with those, and perhaps other things, as long as he doesn't sell olives. So, what's the problem?”
by S.C., cheltenham
Thursday, September 09 2010, 8:11PM
“Perhaps everyone should boycott the opposing stall until fair competition is allowed”
by Kathryn, Gloucester
Thursday, September 09 2010, 8:06PM
“Oh deary deary me. What has happened to the "free movement of trade" and the "level playing field" of market industry competition?
As many others have pointed out, there are multiple butchers, haberdasheries, fishmongers, fabric merchants etc in the market area of the Eastgate Shopping Centre. So why all this fuss about another mediterranean food stall?
I think we should set up a petition to get the gentleman's license reinstated. Instead of scrounging off state benefits, this man actually bothered to set up his own business. Perhaps the owners of the opposing stall have been playing a sly game of tell-taling. Only insecure traders would do that.
Let's get a petition going!”
by S.C., cheltenham
Thursday, September 09 2010, 7:58PM
“For goodness sake - just sack the council busybodies jobsworths and let business people get on with running business and paying taxes that keep these jobsworths in work
Only in Britain could officialdom seek to crush entrepreneurship”