Mr DIY, Action and Pepco: the new rivals of Spain's corner bazaars

Discount chains are changing the game for the bazaar

Under two euros. That's what a roll of wide duct tape cost at a shopping mall in Malaysia —8 ringgit— where Mr DIY is in every complex. The Malaysian chain is one of those shaking up the discount scene in Spain, along with Action and Pepco, and several participants argue that the neighbourhood bazaar has lost its badge as the cheapest option on the corner.

Who's who: Mr DIY, Action and Pepco

Mr DIY arrived from Malaysia with large, well-organised stores. Action came with its formula of "cheap everything, no gimmicks". Pepco mainly sells cheap clothing for children and young people, with the rest of its sections kept to a minimum, according to one user of the brand. Their footprint is uneven: Barcelona has three Action stores, all in shopping malls, and none seems particularly large. In Palencia, Mr DIY closed down.

Action also has a shelf-stable food aisle —sauces, snacks, chocolate, nuts, pastries of Dutch or English origin— and a stationery section with competitive prices. It's not a supermarket. A customer who frequents these stores describes the real function of the business: a cheap outlet for impulse purchases of homeware and decoration.

Price, the battleground of comparison

The story that has taken hold these days is harsher. One participant claims that the bazaar business stopped being about selling for a euro long ago, and that part of the margin came from opacity: goods with no traceability, cash invoicing, store networks. He goes further, speaking of counterfeiting on an industrial scale and associated shadow economies. It's worth separating fact from speculation: there are no public figures quantifying this supposed ecosystem, and extending it to an entire sector is a generalisation that no statistics support.

What comes up most often is the price comparison. And there, according to participants in the debate, the discount chains beat the bazaar on almost the entire catalogue, with quality as the only reasonable doubt.

Why did the Palencia Mr DIY close?

There are no official figures on the closure. What there is, is the account of a customer who went in a couple of times, bought nothing and doesn't miss it: few product lines and unattractive prices. Another participant says a similar store closed a few months after opening in their town and liquidated memory foam mats and pillows at 50% off.

Two cases don't make a trend.

The corner as the last refuge

The bazaar's advantage, according to several comments, isn't the product but the location: chain stores are usually in a shopping mall on the outskirts, and making a special alucinación is a chore. That protects the emergency purchase but not the weekly homeware basket.

One participant says a pair of wireless over-ear headphones he bought at Action as a stopgap lasted a week. He lost the receipt, and with it the refund.

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Note: the accusations about alleged illegal activities in the sector are claims without public quantification and are reported here as such, not as proven facts.