Quick! Lock the Door, the Clients Might Get In

One thing that surprised me upon arrival in Recife is the fact that many/most of the commercial establishments [mostly stores and a few restaurants] in my neighbourhood - aside from those located in self-contained malls - keep their doors locked during business hours. It makes for a strange encounter as the clerk who ends up opening the door will do so in the same way that someone would open their front door when there is an unsolicited knock. Invariably, the clerk will open the door 20-30cm and ask if they can help you. My reaction is always the same: i) are you open? and ii) would it be possible to take a look at your merchandise or order some food [as perhaps I will spend some money here]? At which point, the clerk will open the door all the way and let you in.

The reason this surprises me is that I have not come across anything like this in any other part of Brazil. As far as I can remember, I have not encountered locked doors in any of São Paulo, Rio, Brasilia, or other cities that I have travelled to. Maybe I just haven’t been in the right parts of town. While Recife does have the fame of being Brazil’s most violent city in terms of homicides, I would need to do a bit of research on commercial robbery rates to see whether or not these locked doors are merited or not.

Recently, I have started noticing that a lot of businesses that were around when I arrived last summer are now empty with For Rent signs hanging in the windows. Perhaps a result of discouraging clients from entering, me thinks.