14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, May 20, 2024 — The new store at 704 Carlos III Street in Central Havana has been causing quite a stir. It opened today with an array of merchandise worthy of New York or Los Angeles and with prices to match. Though it is managed by a private company, it shares its premises with a state-run pharmacy.
With Cuba in the middle of a sweltering heat wave, the clean windows, newly installed signage and the promise of air-conditioning were enough to attract some curious onlookers this morning. In a nod to one of the most iconic Havana stores of the 1950s, the store’s management company, Mexohabana, has repurposed the Ten Cent brand name for its storefront.
In addition to a wide assortment of cheeses — they range from the well-known gouda to mozzarella to the exquisite parmesan — the store also sells oatmeal cookies, chorizo, Iberian ham and numerous products labeled “made in USA.”
“It’s obvious this is for people with money,” said a neighbor from a nearby building who had been eagerly anticipating this day. Local residents have been waiting for the store to open for two months, since the beginning of March, when word began to spread that the existing state-owned establishment would be sharing its space with a private one.
“It came out very nice and it looks like they invested a lot of money on the decor. If feels like you’re entering another country,” said the woman, who ultimately left empty-handed. Near her, a man was buying two one-kilogram packages of rice, some sliced ham, some ground cumin and some wheat bran crackers. For the few items that easily fit inside his medium-sized sho
