Markets dying as customers move to streets
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Markets throughout Ho Chi Minh City have been seeing an increased number of customers choose street vendors and supermarkets over traditional markets, causing many market vendors to move to the streets to sell.
Nguyen Xuan Trang, head of the management board of Pham Van Hai Market in Tan Binh District, said only 20 out of the 200 registered stalls in his market are still in operation.
Management at Ba Chieu Market in Binh Thanh District said 70 percent of its stalls are left empty and most of its vendors have moved to the streets to sell.
Some vendors said the reason for the decrease in market customers is that street vendors sell their products in the areas around the markets, blocking customers’ paths to the markets.
The street vendors are as crowded as the vendors in the market, and they sell the same products as well.
Nguyet, a fish vendor in Tan Binh District’s Pham Van Hai Market, said most market goers nowadays prefer to stop on the streets to buy things, rather than park their motorbikes to go into the market.
Phu, one former market-goer at Phu Nhuan Market, said she has stopped entering the market since the parking fee went up to VND4,000 per motorbike.
Another reason customers are shying away from markets is the old degrading buildings that house many of them.
Most of the markets have very poor environmental and hygiene conditions, while supermarkets are clean and comfortable for customers.
Unstable prices in the markets are also driving customers off. Many complain that prices usually go up unreasonably during holidays, reducing the markets’ reputation.
But it’s not easy to sweep away the street vendors. The management boards of the markets have asked local authorities to stop them, but nothing has been done yet.
