Vendors who moved saw sales drop by up to 85 percent. Others opted to set up stalls in front of their homes rather than takes stalls in the Morelos Market
The merchants were relocated to the interior of the Municipal Market. Photo: Héctor Ruiz.
Héctor Ruiz Mejía: All the street vendors who previously worked around Morelos and Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez streets in downtown Jocotepec have been relocated to the interior of the Morelos Market, fulfilling the municipal mandate.
The relocation was ordered by the government after a meeting between Jocotepec President José Miguel Gómez López and the merchant community failed to reach an agreement that would allow the vendors to remain on the street. Gómez López was adamant that all vending now takes place in the refurbished market.
According to vendors interviewed by Laguna, the January 25 morning move to the interior of the Morelos Market was terrible for sales for the handful who made the move. They complained that change of location had a direct impact on their revenue, reducing it as much as 85% in some cases.
«At this hour I would have sold 400, 450 , and right now, you see I have only sold a bag of nopales, only 15 pesos», said one of the merchants who preferred to keep her name anonymous and, like the other vendors, said she did not know how to support the family that depends on her if this continues
“Who will go up (stairs) for a bag of nopales, for a handful of guamúchiles or for a kilogram»of onions, is the question asked by the merchants who for many years sold their products in the streets surrounding the market and made their customers’ purchases easy.
Even though the new stalls designed for the merchants, which cost 7,500 pesos each, will not be charged to them, the vendors are looking for at least a support plan from the City Hall to ease them through this first phase of the change. However, such support has not been confirmed, which is why some of the vendors have been reluctant to move to the new space. The elevator installed after the remodel is not working, exacerbating the problem.
Some merchants opted to stop selling in the area, such as those who preferred to set up their vending stall outside their house on 499 Morelos Street in Nextipac, because their advanced age made climbing the stairs every day with their merchandise an impossible task.
The stairs have led to complaints from other merchants. Several told Laguna that «it has caused us more work to climb every day with all the product, it is very heavy».
The merchants who could not find a place inside the Market were hit even harder. They were relocated to the small square of «La Campana», a junction of Morelos and Independencia streets, which resulted in very low sales.
«Not even the flies can stop there», complained the vendors, who said that they will try to endure the situation as best they can in the hope that, with the passage of time and the force of habit, their former customers will come to their new facilities.
Meanwhile, since the relocation, the Government of Jocotepec began adding new signage to help rehabilitate Jocotepec’s urban image, damaged recently by the piles of garbage accumulated by the irregular collection service .
Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan
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