From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Not the same anonymity at all.  Also many of these party/gas stores service
inner city neighborhoods with no Wal-Mart in sight.  Everything from food
to
*other* items are over priced ( few national retailers - even banks -  dare
to erect stores ) . It's a different world than you are used to Gary


"Gary Britt"  wrote in message
news:44e1dd26$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> That person would have the same anonymity at Wal-Mart unless he was trying
> to buy 10 at a time or something.
>
> Gary
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:44e14501$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Your focus that a person of Middle Eastern persuasion is the one
>> purchasing the cell phones from the gas station is erroneous. While it
>> probably is a person requiring some anonymity that could be anyone from
>> your neighborhood drug runner to Karl Rove.
>>
>>
>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>> news:44e13ac9$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> You can't buy brass knuckles and stolen OTC medication (which I assume
>>> is selling for less than Wal-Mart prices), crack pipes etc at Wal-Mart.
>>> It makes sense there would be a market for these items somewhere.  What
>>> doesn't make sense is for us to believe that Abdul is buying cell phones
>>> at the gas station for a higher price than they can buy the same cell
>>> phone at Wal-Mart.  To believe that you have to believe Abdul doesn't
>>> shop at Wal-Mart for anything.
>>>
>>> Gary
>>>
>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>>> news:44e127c8{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Many of the local gas stations are owned by the Middle
East immigrants
>>>> so the phones are being sold out of their stores. It's really a gray
>>>> area/sometimes shady  market that they serve and local media in the
>>>> past has exposed everything from brass knuckles, stolen
OTC medication,
>>>> to crack pipes sold from the gas stations and party stores. We are
>>>> talking small entrepreneurs looking the other way while they make a
>>>> buck.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Gary Britt"  wrote in message
>>>> news:44e12329{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>> Rich, the claim below they are being sold to local gas
stations, etc.
>>>>> seems completely insane to me.  Why buy from gas
station when you can
>>>>> buy the same phone for less at Wal-Mart.  If the
phones were being
>>>>> converted to something not sold at Wal-Mart or being
shipped overseas,
>>>>> then at least the "its just an innocent
business" claim might make
>>>>> some sense, but it makes no sense at all that Arabs in
Dearborn would
>>>>> rather pay higher price to gas station than buy from
the Wal-Mart next
>>>>> door.
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary
>>>>>
>>>>> "Rich Gauszka" 
wrote in message
>>>>> news:44e11943{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Mike N." 
wrote in message
>>>>>> news:7452e2dfqdtfhug4v0oc9cd4hrfbapn4r5{at}4ax.com...
>>>>>>> On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:34:47 -0400, "Gary
Britt" 
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Where are these cell phones sold, USA or
overseas?  Whose buying
>>>>>>>>them rather
>>>>>>>>than go to the local Wal-Mart themselves? 
Why only Arabs exploiting
>>>>>>>>this
>>>>>>>>"opportunity"?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  And if they are indeed reselling them, what a
bunch of dummies as
>>>>>>> businessmen!   Why buy in qty 1,000 retail
when they could get a
>>>>>>> significant break on that quantity by buying
directly from Tracfone.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  More likely, they are just adding a level of
obfuscation for
>>>>>>> purchasing
>>>>>>> and reselling untraceable cell phones.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But I thought Gary Britt  loved the entrepreneur spirit?
>>>>>> 'An independent entrepreneur will buy the phones
for, say, $8 each.
>>>>>> He will sell them to a distributor for $12, making
a $4 profit.
>>>>>> Multiply that by a thousand -- about the number of
phones the three
>>>>>> men arrested in Caro bought in total -- and you
have a $4,000
>>>>>> profit.'
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS05/60814033
9/1007/NEWS05
>>>>>> It may seem unusual for someone to buy hundreds of
cell phones at a
>>>>>> time, but metro Detroiters of Middle Eastern
descent say that
>>>>>> practice is part of a long tradition of entrepreneurship in
>>>>>> Arab-American communities.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> From Dearborn to Troy to Sterling Heights, Arab
Americans are a major
>>>>>> part of the cell phone business in southeastern
Michigan. At least
>>>>>> half of the cell phone businesses in the region
are owned by metro
>>>>>> Detroiters of Arab or Chaldean descent, say
business owners in the
>>>>>> industry. Many new immigrants or emerging
businessmen earn money by
>>>>>> buying the cell phones and then selling them to
gas stations,
>>>>>> distributors or stores.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It's called capitalism, Arab Americans say.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In Michigan, "you can talk to almost any
family in the Arab-American
>>>>>> community, and they all have some relative in the cell phone
>>>>>> business," said Warren David, a Lebanese
American from Northville.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If police knew that, perhaps five Arab Americans
would not have been
>>>>>> arrested last week on terrorism charges after they
bought hundreds of
>>>>>> cell phones, said David, who recently sold his
cell phone business to
>>>>>> an Iraqi American.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "If they understood us a little more, they
might not jump the gun so
>>>>>> quickly," he said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In Ohio on Tuesday, a store employee called police after two
>>>>>> 20-year-old Arab-American men from Dearborn bought
a large number of
>>>>>> cell phones at a Wal-Mart. The same thing happened
Friday in Caro
>>>>>> after three Arab-American men bought 80 phones at one store.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In the Ohio case, Osama Abulhassan and Ali
Houssaiky were just trying
>>>>>> to make money by buying cell phones so they could
sell them to a
>>>>>> distributor for a profit, family members said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "The two young men were engaged in a
perfectly legal practice based
>>>>>> on the most fundamental principles of our free
market economy," the
>>>>>> Abulhassan family said in an e-mail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's how the practice sometimes works, said
Nasser Beydoun, head of
>>>>>> the Dearborn-based American Arab Chamber of Commerce:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> An independent entrepreneur will buy the phones
for, say, $8 each. He
>>>>>> will sell them to a distributor for $12, making a
$4 profit. Multiply
>>>>>> that by a thousand -- about the number of phones
the three men
>>>>>> arrested in Caro bought in total -- and you have a
$4,000 profit.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The distributor then will sell the phones at a
higher price to gas
>>>>>> station owners, who in turn sell them at a marked-up price.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many people of Arab descent "are traders by
nature," Beydoun said.
>>>>>> "That entrepreneurship should not be linked
to terrorism just because
>>>>>> they are Arab American."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For more than 100 years, the Arab-American
community has tried to
>>>>>> turn a profit on everything from trinkets to
watches to electronic
>>>>>> goods.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In the 1980s, David recalled, blue jeans were the
hot item. And his
>>>>>> Lebanese immigrant grandfather often bought and
sold hosiery to make
>>>>>> a living.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In metro Detroit, Arab Americans are believed to
dominate the cell
>>>>>> phone industry not only on the retail level, but
also when it comes
>>>>>> to wholesale dealers and accessory stores. Two of
the area's biggest
>>>>>> cell phone chains --  Wireless Toyz and Wireless
Giant -- are owned
>>>>>> by Iraqi Chaldeans.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This practice also occurs with other goods. In
Dearborn, for example,
>>>>>> Arab-American entrepreneurs buy and sell incense,
lighters and
>>>>>> flowers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There's a concern that what happened in Ohio and
Caro could hurt
>>>>>> Arab-American business owners.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Abed Ayoub, 26, a Dearborn resident who often
works on legal issues,
>>>>>> said he knows of at least two cases in recent
months in which FBI
>>>>>> agents questioned Arab Americans after they
purchased large numbers
>>>>>> of cell phones from stores.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "They're just doing business, nothing
more," Ayoub said.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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