Why do many small traders in Vinh City still close their shops even though the market has reopened?

Stroll around the local marketsVinh City, it is not difficult to see many kiosks and shops still "closed and locked" even though the market has been reopened for a while.

Many kiosks at Vinh Railway Station Market remain closed even though the market has reopened. Photo: PV

For example, at Vinh Railway Station Market, many kiosks are covered with tarpaulins and have signs for rent or transfer of stores. The entrances to the market are also deserted, especially the first and second floors of the main hall, where there are mainly groups of traders sitting around chatting or looking at their phones to "kill time".

Contacting the phone number attached to a closed kiosk, the reporter met Ms. Vinh, a trader at Ga Market. When asked why she had not reopened her business, Ms. Vinh sighed: "Since the city closed the market last August, I have also packed up my goods. Now opening it will cost a lot of money in terms of kiosk rental, taxes, electricity... and without customers, how can I cover the expenses? Therefore, I have closed the store, pinned my phone number there, if anyone needs it, I will ship it, not sell it directly."

The deserted market and many unsold shops are among the reasons why small traders are reluctant to reopen. Photo: PV

That is also the situation of hundreds of small traders at Vinh Railway Station market at this time. Mr. Le Vinh Hung - Head of Management BoardVinh Railway Station Marketsaid: According to preliminary statistics, only about 350/600 traders have returned to the market to trade, the rest are still temporarily closed. The reason is that the number of customers coming to the market has decreased sharply due to the epidemic, causing many difficulties and losses in trading. In addition, the boom of online sales as well as the widespread sales on the streets and sidewalks have also significantly affected the business of traditional markets."

After more than 20 years of working at Quan Lau market, Ms. Le Thi Manh had to sadly close her kiosk and hang a sign announcing the store's move to Nguyen Trung Ngan street in mid-October. Ms. Manh shared: "I have been doing business at the market since the early days of its establishment, so closing the market was a very difficult decision but it was necessary to maintain the job. The market is deserted due to the epidemic, the market is now seriously degraded, it is hot on sunny days, it leaks on rainy days, water flows everywhere, making the goods moldy and damaged, while the market upgrade has not been implemented yet, so I have to leave to ensure safety...".

Many traders have decided to choose new locations to do business instead of doing business in the market. Photo: PV

It is known that about 50% of the traders at Quan Lau market are currently out of business even though the market has been reopened for quite a while. According to the reporter's investigation, there are about 10 kiosks on Nguyen Trung Ngan Street (right next to Quan Lau market) that were rented by Quan Lau market traders to move out to do business because the market is both degraded and deserted, making it impossible to stay.

At Vinh market, the largest market in Nghe An, about 70% of traders have reopened, but about 500 traders are still closed. A representative of Vinh market management board said that one of the reasons why traders have not returned is because they are still afraid of the epidemic. Most recently, on October 18, there was a case of F0 who went shopping for clothes on the 2nd floor of the main hall, causing 6 traders to become F1 and have to be quarantined, and the kiosks were also blocked...

Some traders at Quan Lau market have rented kiosks to do business on Nguyen Trung Ngan street. Photo: PV

Faced with the difficulties of small traders, Vinh City leaders said the city has a plan to adapt to the epidemic in the new situation, including adjusting some epidemic prevention measures at the market to create favorable conditions for small traders and people to shop.

It is known that Vinh City has reopened 21/26 markets, nearly 12,000 traders have been vaccinated against Covid-19. The epidemic prevention steps at the market are still strictly maintained, including: Limiting entrances and exits to the market, localities assigning forces to check health declarations, measuring body temperature, traders must be tested periodically every 7 days...