Vendors abandoning public markets claim insufficient business

Vendors are abandoning the municipal markets’ stalls claiming insufficient business, the president of the Macau Vendors Mutual Aid Association (Associação de Auxílio Mútuo de Vendilhões de Macau), O Cheng Wong, said.

Speaking to Portuguese language newspaper Hoje Macau (HM), O said that the general trend is that vendors are exiting, although not all markets are affected. He noted that the most serious case at the moment seems to be at the Tamagnini Barbosa Municipal Market in the Northern District where about 70% of stalls are empty.

Reports of this same issue have recently arrived in the Times via several readers claiming that, in other markets such as the S. Domingos Municipal Market (in the city center), the number of empty stalls has increased.

O also observed that this problem has been seen in venues that have recently been revamped, such as the Horta da Mitra Municipal Market in the area of Rua do Campo.

“The stalls at the Horta da Mitra Municipal Market have little variety on offer and a very small area. They cannot compete with the variety of products sold in nearby supermarkets and stores. The situation is made worse by the obligation to sell only the products stipulated in the licenses,” O was quoted saying to HM.

According to O, despite the improvements, there was no increase in interest from buyers as business was low before the revamp.

In an informal talk with one of the vendors of the S. Lourenço Market, she mentioned that it is hard for the market sellers to compete with the increasing number of fruit and vegetable shops owned by bigger companies in the mainland. She also said that, since they are outside the markets and using regular commercial spaces, they also can extend their schedules and better adjust to buyers’ needs, while municipal markets close much earlier, usually around 7 p.m.

Less stringent rules on types of products on sale a potential solution

To address this issue, the president of the vendors association called for the easing some of the rules governing the type of products traders may sell in the markets, a measure that he said could boost business and prevent the drifting away of more sellers.

Increasing the business environment in the surrounding market could also increase the interest of buyers, O noted, explaining that the markets located in areas with a lot of street-style sellers and small shops fare better, giving the Red Market and the S. Lourenço Municipal Market as examples.

The same representative added that several calls have been made to the government on this issue but the responses have always been that “they will consider the matter” or that they “are working on it.”

After the reports from readers on the markets’ situation, the Times contacted the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to discover why there is low interest from vendors on the municipal markets stalls. However, even after a week, there has been no response from IAM.