Extortion and Inflation Deal a Heavy Blow to Small Retailers in Quintana Roo

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Quintana Roo ranks among the Mexican states where small retailers are feeling the steepest decline in consumer spending and the deepening reach of insecurity, according to the National Alliance of Small Retailers (ANPEC).

Cuauhtémoc Rivera, the group’s president, named the state as one of the areas where that blow lands hardest. The damage is not confined to Quintana Roo: virtually the entire south-southeast region shows the sharpest deterioration in the country, driven by crimes such as extortion and by falling consumption for small businesses.

The share of corner-store owners reporting a drop in sales rose from 35.2% in July to 44.9% in the group’s October survey.

Nationwide, price increases have reached most small businesses: 91.3% of retailers say their suppliers raised prices, and 89.1% had to raise their own prices over the past six months. Even so, 81.9% gave up part of their profit margin to avoid losing customers.

Direct victimization remains widespread. Thirty percent of merchants report shoplifting, 10.7% report extortion and 4.1% report protection payments, known in Mexico as cobro de piso, in which criminal groups charge businesses a fee to operate.

Against that backdrop, merchants are calling for greater security and permanent police operations, a crackdown on illegal distribution networks, access to credit for micro-business owners and support programs for utility rates, especially electricity.

On Quintana Roo, Rivera said extortion and protection payments “weigh heavily,” particularly in the Riviera Maya and other tourist areas of the Mexican Caribbean. He singled out taxi organizations as guilds and closed groups that behave like veritable mafias and shape economic activity in the region.

Rivera linked that situation to the difficulty of restoring tourism and bringing back destinations such as Tulum and the rest of the Riviera Maya. Insecurity adds to sargassum seaweed and global conditions, factors that ultimately hit people’s wallets.

“Insecurity is inflationary because it makes operating more expensive and ends up hurting family consumption,” Rivera said.