| There are 85 million Vietnamese people and over 8 million motorbikes on their roads. In Saigon, the streets are packed with motorbike riders and they far outnumber the people in cars - by at least 200 to one - in the traffic stream. An entire roadside service industry exists to service the millions of bikes streaming by any given spot, at any given moment, 24 hours each day. At the top of the food chain in that industry are the modern-looking gas stations and bike washes, which are few and far between. A more common sight is a run-down pumping station with old, outdated gas pumping contraptions. |
On the sidewalks and streets of busy and noisy Saigon, there are mechanics performing major engine repairs to the
bikes, including full motor and transmission replacements, brake jobs, and wheel replacements, right on the road.
There are other, minor repair shops whose mechanics might only be equipped to repair a broken light bulb or a torn
seat cover, but once again, it is all performed curbside while the drivers wait.
The tire and inner tube repair and replacement industry seems to be a specialty, not intermixed with general
mechanical repairs. If you were to walk 10 blocks in any direction, you would run into at least five or six tire and tube
sellers. Some just sell the rubber, while others will change the tires and tubes on the fly. Some of this business
appears to be mobile in nature. We passed an inner tube retailer with a full, heavy inventory of inner tubes attached
to a special rack, which was attached to his bicycle, which he pedaled from intersection to intersection, scanning for
flats.
Eight million motorbikes, multiplied by 2 tires each, amounts to sixteen million inflatable tires, all of which commonly
deflate with use and abuse. Thus, Saigon has an air dispensary business. This business is also highly specialized in
nature. They just sell air from small, ancient-looking compressors. Most of them are old and oily relics that appear to
have been rigged together by so many spare parts, all found by scrounging. This is the most common streetside
motorbike business (second only to the countless food dispensary micro-restaurants, which often share the same
three- or four-meter sidewalk space as the air pumping establishments.
bikes, including full motor and transmission replacements, brake jobs, and wheel replacements, right on the road.
There are other, minor repair shops whose mechanics might only be equipped to repair a broken light bulb or a torn
seat cover, but once again, it is all performed curbside while the drivers wait.
The tire and inner tube repair and replacement industry seems to be a specialty, not intermixed with general
mechanical repairs. If you were to walk 10 blocks in any direction, you would run into at least five or six tire and tube
sellers. Some just sell the rubber, while others will change the tires and tubes on the fly. Some of this business
appears to be mobile in nature. We passed an inner tube retailer with a full, heavy inventory of inner tubes attached
to a special rack, which was attached to his bicycle, which he pedaled from intersection to intersection, scanning for
flats.
Eight million motorbikes, multiplied by 2 tires each, amounts to sixteen million inflatable tires, all of which commonly
deflate with use and abuse. Thus, Saigon has an air dispensary business. This business is also highly specialized in
nature. They just sell air from small, ancient-looking compressors. Most of them are old and oily relics that appear to
have been rigged together by so many spare parts, all found by scrounging. This is the most common streetside
motorbike business (second only to the countless food dispensary micro-restaurants, which often share the same
three- or four-meter sidewalk space as the air pumping establishments.
| Niche Marketing Saigon Style |
by Michael Domino
Copyright © 2008 by Michael Domino
| Short Stories Page 1 2 |
© Michael Domino 2007-2008
