A date with the most beautiful date store in the country
A fruit seller since the 1990s, he found luck and profit in selling dates. In 2010, he set up his unique ‘only dates’ shop, which became popular enough to sell around 150 kilograms of dates daily during peak season. Here’s an up close and personal look at Shahidul Islam’s dates business
My mind was blown at first sight of the store.
I have seen many stores that sell dates. But this particular store was clean and well-lit, with shiny glass jars of dates geometrically arranged. It was like a cadence and the jars were glistening.
Madina Dates House is located a few yards past the little Jamuna river bridge, heading into the Naogaon town.
Thoroughly impressed, I had to learn the story behind this store.
"I have never seen a beautiful dates store like this before," I told the owner, hoping to open up the conversation. "Because there is no store like mine anywhere," owner Shahidul Islam, a bearded elderly man, gave me a straight-forward answer.
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As the conversation progressed, I realised that the elderly date seller had a sense of humour. He was replying to my curiosities with light-hearted responses and peals of laughter. But it did not hide the fact that Shahidul was indeed aware of people's curiosity about his store and was genuinely proud of it.
"People always take photos of my store. And many people from Dhaka take dates from my shop," he said.
If only you could see the way he sits in his store with shiny jars all around. It almost looked like a little kingdom of dates where Shahidul is the undisputed king.
In between crowds of customers and sales, we continued the talk.
An idea for better livelihood
"I have seen in Dhaka and Bogura that stores keep dates in the open. The dates get dirty and dusty that way. Since my shop is beside the main road, there is an issue with dust," he replied when I asked why he sells in jars when others sell dates either in the open or in cartons.
"Sometimes people touch the dates with their unclean hands. Many customers hate this. It is not like everyone performs ablution before touching the dates.
Do they?" Shahidul quipped. "You are a tasteful man. Will you buy from a carton where people touch dates with unclean hands?"
So Shahidul Islam, partly taking the hygiene factor into consideration and partly because this is a unique marketing strategy – that could potentially draw more customers – designed the store on his own.
"I haven't seen anyone else selling dates in glass jars as I do. I thought if I put them in clean jars, it would create an atmosphere. No one taught me this. This came from my experience," he said.
I had been struggling so much with my business, but I wasn't reaping the benefits of my hard work. Listen carefully," Shahidul, a man who also introduced himself as a devoted Muslim, said, "I used to ask Allah to show me the way. Then I got the idea that if I could decorate the store well, I would get more sales.
I didn't borrow the idea from others." And the idea worked.
On a regular day, he sells around 50 to 70 kilograms of dates, while in Ramadan, he sells up to 150 kgs of dates per day.
Shahidul has many loyal customers from Naogaon and from the outside as well. He said that his customers come here from all over because they have faith that he will supply good quality dates even if it costs a little higher than regular stores.
"We sort out the best dates from the other ones. I have employees to do this. And I sell the best ones at a higher price than the other ones. Any fruit that comes in a carton comes in different sizes and qualities.
I go to Dhaka myself and buy the dates after inspecting them. I always try to buy the best dates. I may make more profit selling you bad dates. But here, it is not like in Dhaka where customers purchase something from a place and never return to complain, even if the fruit is rotten.
I have a permanent shop, and the locals are my customers. They will come back if I sell them bad dates," explained the dates shop owner.
Tale of a date lover
Shahidul didn't sell dates from the start.
In the 1990s, when he started the business, he used to sell fruits like apples, oranges, lychees, etc. He used to ferry the fruits to various places.
It required a lot of hard work, yet he didn't make much money. Making ends meet was difficult. After selling mixed fruits for 20 years, in 2010, he decided to sell dates and only dates.
Why? This fruit is not as perishable as other fruits. He can store them over time and sell them. "Dates are a healthy fruit, and people all over Bangladesh love this.
Look for any grocery shop; you will see they all are selling dates. It is very popular. And a special store just for dates like mine makes it more attractive," he said.
Dates changed Shahidul's life for the better.
"Selling dates today, I can earn a decent living that I couldn't do if I remained stuck to selling all kinds of fruits," he said.
Shahidul has four employees at present. It is now a dull season for dates because this is the top season for summer fruits like mango and Naogaon is thriving and on its way to becoming the top mango producer in Bangladesh.
But in peak season, he has to employ up to 10 workers. He had one store before, but he had to add another store to extend the size of his outlet.
And how many varieties of dates does the store carry? "My shop has at least 20 to 25 variants of dates. For example, Ajwa and Maryam. Both these dates have different categories. There is Irani Maryam, and the Saudia Maryam, which has five to 10 variants. Maryam alone has variants that sell from Tk400 to Tk1,000," Shahidul replied.
One of the highest-priced dates in his store is an Egyptian Medjool variant that he sells at around Tk1,500 per kg. But the expensive variants sell less. His top-selling dates are priced from Tk200 to Tk400 per kg.
Shahidul, however, is not only a mere date seller. He is a date enthusiast.
He brings the dates from Dhaka. But he is not happy about it.
"I wish I could directly buy from Saudi Arabia and Dubai, explore the best dates in the world and bring them here," said Shahidul. "But it requires a lot of money. I don't have the luck to do that, nor do I have so much money."
In his personal life, Shahidul Islam is a father of three. Both his daughters and his only son are married off. "My son will take over this business after my retirement. Why wouldn't he? This business is far better than other businesses.
He will make this a better store and make a better living," said Shahidul.
