A Business Tailormade for Happiness
- Lifestyles
- Travel & Leisure
- Art & Entertainment
Author: Molouk Y. Ba-Isa
Released 31 July 2004
Faisal Saleh Al Zamil
Owner of Al Zamil Stores
Photograph by Arab News
Al Zamil Stores is a landmark in the Eastern Province. The shop is a beacon of hope for anyone with an artistic bent in the Eastern Region and beyond. Paint, plaster, putty, pumice, pottery, patches, pallets, papier-mache, poplin, pastels, patterns, pens, pigments, pincushions, pinstripes, pique, pompoms and paraffin are just a few of the products available for purchase at Al Zamil. Pick another letter if that list isn’t large enough!
Most mornings the proprietor of Al Zamil Stores, Faisal Saleh Al Zamil, will be found buzzing around his offices on the third floor of the Alkhobar store, checking on a million details, his hearty laugh encouraging everyone around him. It is easy to see that this man loves his life and his work. Fifty-two people, expatriates and Saudis, are staff members at Al Zamil Stores. Many of them have spent 20 to 25 years with Al Zamil and he is quick to point out that the team works together. They don’t work for him; they work with him and they have helped him build the business, nearly from the ground up.
“When my father passed away I was 12,” said Al Zamil. “My mother was doing some tailoring work at home to support us. So we had to help her. She would do the tailoring and we would take our bicycles and distribute the finished work to the customers. We came to know someone who wanted to sell a shop in King Khaled Street. My elder brother Abdul Aziz, my little brothers and myself, we decided to take that shop. The owner agreed that we would pay him for the shop in installments. It took us a few years to really get into the business, so I would say it was 1968 before began to move toward our current direction.”
Al Zamil’s mother had difficulty finding basic items in the market for her tailoring work. Abdul Aziz made a trip to Beirut to procure what was needed. Soon other tailors began asking for zippers and buttons. So the brothers started stocking those things at the shop.
“From there we increased our stock,” explained Al Zamil. “After a couple of years another company wanted to set up shop at our location and we were offered SR100,000 to move. In those days SR100,000 was big money, so we moved. We took the money and had a big order of material shipped to us from the US. We ordered macrame cords, some interfacing materials and beautiful buttons. That was when we really got serious about the arts and crafts business.”
It isn’t very profitable selling small items that cost less than a riyal and eventually Al Zamil’s family opened other businesses, but he remained committed to the arts and crafts store.
“I didn’t like the new businesses as much as this one so I left them for someone else to manage,” Al Zamil said. “This business is a part of me and I enjoy taking care of it. Through Al Zamil Stores I see that we help this society. We help people work and keep busy.”
Al Zamil Stores consists of a shop in Alkhobar and one in Riyadh, plus there is a wholesale department. They also sell sewing notions and basic hardware to about 50 supermarkets in the Gulf. Al Zamil Stores buys in bulk and then the staff repacks the sewing notions and hardware in smaller amounts for sale to consumers. The supermarkets in the Gulf buy the repackaged goods. Al Zamil hopes to open a store in Jeddah soon. As a demonstration of their commitment to the local community, Al Zamil Stores sponsors charity groups and for the last five years they have supported six centers in the Eastern Province where boys who are talented artists go to improve their skills.
“Through Al Zamil Stores we feel that we must educate the society,” said Al Zamil. “We must show people new ways to create and produce. We send our representatives to jails, hospitals, schools and charity groups to help them see how they can use craft items to be productive.”
It might be hard to believe that shops selling yarn and dye are essential to Saudi society, but Al Zamil offers compelling proof.
“We are proud that we have helped a lot of people in society learn basic ways to support their families,” he said. “We have shown people living in villages in the Eastern Province how to take the desert bushes and dye them and sell them to florists. Scorpions and other insects can be caught and immobilized in resin to make paperweights and key chains, which are then sold to novelty shops. Sand can be colored and used to make decorative items. People just need guidance on how to add value to the things around them and that’s where we try to help.”
Al Zamil related a true story of how a beggar became a businesswoman with just a little guidance.
“A lady came to me some years back to receive charity,” Al Zamil reminisced. “She came to me every month for a while and I gave her an amount of money. Then one day she brought me baskets woven from palm fronds. I asked her who had made them and she explained that it was the handiwork of her family. So I told her that I wouldn’t give her charity anymore but I would buy her baskets.
“For about three months she came by from time to time and then all of a sudden she disappeared. Six or seven months later I was driving down King Khaled Street and looking to the left I saw the lady with her blind husband and huge bundle of baskets. I called over to her, ‘Umm Rashid!’ She saw me and walked over to the car. Then she exclaimed. ‘It’s you! You are a thief! I found that others will pay much more for my baskets so I don’t come to you anymore! You cheated me!’ I started laughing. I loved hearing her shouting at me so much because I saw that she had become a productive member of society instead of a beggar.”
Bedouins, royals and expatriates can all be seen browsing the items on display at Al Zamil Stores. Al Zamil has found that all those who come to his shops have a common interest in doing something creative that joins their minds, their hands and their hearts.
“While some people earn money from their craft work, everyone earns self esteem from doing work well,” he said. “Some expatriates who came to this country didn’t know how many talents they had until they started doing cross stitching, quilting, painting and embroidery. Some of the artistic pieces done by those expatriates, my customers, have won prizes at very big shows abroad. They come back from their vacation and they are so excited. They say, ‘Faisal, see, my quilt won first place! Faisal, I got my name in the newspaper! Faisal, my work won best of show at the fair!’ It makes me feel really proud and happy.”
Al Zamil claims to be a born artist and he has taken many courses to understand the creative process in the various crafts. He also learns a lot by reading magazines focusing on arts and crafts. In that way he knows the new trends and keeps ahead of the rest of the market. In the end though, the truth is that what has made Al Zamil Stores a success is that the business is devoted to the needs of the customers.
“Arts and crafts is our business,” Al Zamil said. “Yes, we make a profit, or we couldn’t exist. But at the end of the day we are interested in how many happy people have left our stores. This is the definition of satisfaction for me.”