DAMMAM: To meet the growing demands of their families and increase their income, several women in Dammam have turned their homes into fashion houses and tailor shops, especially those who have skills in fashion design. They have resorted to this because all their attempts to convince the authorities at the Ministry of Commerce to grant them licenses to open women's clothing shops have been in vain. A group of women converted a room of one of their houses into a designing and sewing room. Here they also receive women customers who live in the district. These women want the Ministry of Commerce to instruct the organizers of bazaars to charge them nominal fees to display and promote their fashions. They have also demanded that officials at the Human Resources Development Fund provide them with financial aid so they can expand their activities. They have made the same demand to the Credit Bank for loans. Fawzia Al-Awaad said she opened a small tailor shop in her house and has been working as a fashion designer for more than nine years while waiting for the ministry's license. “I hope the ministry will ease the conditions governing the granting of licenses to women who want to open beauty parlors and women's tailor shops.” She also called on the government and banks to provide her with loans like they do for other small scale businesses. “Being fashion designers working from our homes we have no way to promote our designs except at bazaars and tourist festivals. The organizers of these events charge us more than SR12,000 for just a few days. This shows that most of our income goes into their pockets. We want the Ministry of Commerce to organize and sponsor such events and charge us nominal fees.” Nouf Abdul Latif said most of them work without licenses because of what she described as draconian laws and impossible conditions. “When I obtained a diploma in tailoring nine years ago, I applied to the ministry to get a license for a women's tailor shop but since then I haven't received a reply from the ministry.” She said no one can meet these conditions, especially the condition of having a male representative to follow up with the ministry, which requires huge amounts of money. She said the officials do not realize that they are starting from scratch and do not have the capital to meet these conditions. Werood Al-Ataishan said, “I have suffered a lot. One of the ministry's most difficult conditions is that of the appointment of a male representative for the shop.” She said she has had bitter experience with representatives who ask for their fees in advance and then disappear with the money.
