For traditional farmers’ markets is tough to compete

Santo Domingo.- Come in, m’lady… how can I help you? says a vegetable seller from inside the Villa Consuelo market to a woman who was walking around the periphery of it to attract her as a customer. However, his bark went unheeded.

Such a scene is frequently repeated in that supply plaza which was inaugurated in 2012 after 18 years of waiting, which five municipal administrations could not materialize and where its 250 cubicles, which would be supplied with different products, would respond to the demands of a wide consumer base.

But when visiting this place, the scene is totally different, since the two floors arranged for sales are seen with little attendance of visitors and on its second level with closed modules and without merchandise.

Alejandro Castillo, a vegetable vendor, attributed the few visits of users to the informal stalls in the area, as well as to the circulation of the “guagüitas” (little pickup trucks) and tricycles that also offer their products and that are ahead of them.