Thousands live off used clothes - El Heraldo de Chihuahua | Local News, Police, Mexico, Chihuahua and the World

Every Sunday hundreds of Chihuahuans meet, from the early hours of the morning, in different tianguis of the city to acquire different items at a lower price, among which the sale of used clothing stands out.

According to figures shown by the Department of Commerce and Entertainment, at the end of last year there was a record of 48 flea markets regulated by the Subdirectorate of the Interior, with availability for 20 thousand spaces and in which around eight thousand people currently work paying a permit. of 720 pesos, per fiscal year, to be able to market their products.

The bazaars that currently have permits from the Subgovernment of the City Council are 1,173 for clothing sales and another 1,114 for miscellaneous items. Some of them are located in Villa Juárez, Campesina, Vistas de Cerro Grande, Plan de Ayala, Cerro de la Cruz, División del Norte, Revolución, Girasoles, among others.

Despite having an idea of ​​the sellers, the agency cannot guarantee an exact figure, since most of the merchants float from one place to another and do not dedicate themselves exclusively to it.

Among the largest tianguis in the capital is that of the Tarahumara neighborhood, followed by San Jorge, Equus, La Industrial, Riberas de Sacramento, Chihuahua 2000 and 20 de Noviembre.

Likewise, the extension of the Nueva España neighborhood is taken as an example, with an extension of two kilometers and 50 meters long, ranging from the Granjas de Cerro Grande neighborhood to the Vistas de Cerro Grande neighborhood; Residents of the nearby neighborhoods, which total around 30,000 citizens, regularly attend the Sunday sale of used clothing, since their prices range from 15 pesos per garment.

The preowned clothing trade has increased over time, mainly in neighborhoods on the outskirts of the state capital, where there have been various outbreaks of infectious diseases such as "rickettsia", transmitted by tick bites, which is why , on different occasions, the State Commission for Sanitary Risks (Coespris), has warned about the acquisition of this type of clothing, recommending a thorough washing before using it, or avoiding its acquisition.

Some of the vendors arrive in their car, open the trunk and that's how the sale of the day begins; others resort to sheets or blankets on the floor to protect the merchandise, however, this is little precaution against diseases and parasites that carry the stray dogs that roam there, because as Coespris has explained, there is a considerable variety of infections, allergies and contagious diseases from contact with clothing contaminated by parasites such as lice, fleas, mites, bed bugs and ticks.

The garments acquired from bales can cause diseases such as "scabiasis", which turns out to be highly contagious due to the infestation of mites in the fabric; In the same way, scabies is frequent in people who usually buy second-hand clothes. Although not all paca clothing is used, the problem is that it can be treated with chemicals that affect the skin in people with delicate skin, causing a rash.

For vendors, a flea market represents a lifestyle, as they say it is an entire Mexican culture, from the smells to the famous "haggling", it is something that, as a whole, characterizes the stalls, also known as markets on wheels, popular markets or dumps.

There are also Chihuahuan families, young people and parents who from time to time join the local sale, because in addition to making money they get rid of belongings that are no longer needed at home. “Normally I go with my family twice a year to sell what we no longer need, instead of throwing it away or giving it away, that way we get a good bit of money that was not contemplated,” says Lorena Ramírez, a mother.

Tianguis begin to dominate the streets of Parral

In the city there are about 250 used clothing vendors that are installed in two parts of the city, one in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood and another in the PRI neighborhood, which is the largest since it brings together sellers of all kinds of merchandise, as well as As food stalls, they consider used clothing vendors who are dedicated to this activity due to the economic situation they are experiencing since the crisis is hard and with the sale of clothing they help the family economy.

In the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood there are around 40 street vendors who settle on weekends on Saturdays and Sundays, they state that the clothes they sell are from the collection they make during the week from relatives, friends and neighbors who provide them with clothes for their sale, some who have relatives in the United States comment that they send them the clothes they are leaving and with the sale they help themselves, they consider that they should sell it cheap so that people come out, they do not buy if the price goes up, they have clothes of 20 at 40 pesos, such as clothes for babies and children, and adult garments that range from 50 to 100 pesos.

In the PRI neighborhood, which is the largest flea market in the city, there are more than 200 sellers of used and new clothing, but the biggest sales are used clothing, since it is cheaper, in the same way the clothes have low prices so that they do not stay, the people who dedicate themselves to this activity are people who gather the clothes and come on weekends to sell them, other sellers already have their suppliers and buy the garments in volume both in bales and in bags , mainly from El Paso, Texas, also buy their clothes in Moroleón, Guadalajara, Villa Hidalgo and Mexico City.

They point out that October is a bad month for sales, only seasonal garments are coming out, such as jackets, wool shirts and sweatshirts due to the proximity of the cold, the months that they consider to have the most sales are in December and January when people bring money, another of the merchandise they sell second-hand is footwear, but clothing sells more.

In Ciudad Juárez thousands of families depend on informal trade

Thousands of families in the city depend on informal trade with the sale of used clothing and household items that are often brought from the United States, which has caused a serious problem for the municipal authority.

Only in the Directorate of Commercial Regulation of the Municipality they have around 109 markets throughout the city, including the four markets that the Municipality has, of which there is a list of between 18,000 and 22,000 merchants or families that depend on this trade. reported the head of the municipal agency, Leonel Ortega Cázares.

A person who did not give his name explained that most of the used clothing is bought in El Paso, Texas, by 'bales' or 'lumps', which includes the passage to Ciudad Juárez through international bridges.

“Many times they take the bundles of clothes to your house or you agree to deliver them to you, with the date, time and place so that your merchandise is sure that it will arrive, God knows how they will do it for you. cross it," he said.

He pointed out that in El Paso, Texas, there are warehouses where they sell the 'bales' of used clothing of all sizes and prices according to volume, weight and what it contains.

He assured that there are prices from 50 dollars, which is a lot of clothes, up to a thousand dollars because all the clothes are of quality in use, brand, design and the amount of clothes that each 'package' has.

The interviewee asserted that for each 'bale' of used clothing you buy, you easily get triple the price if you buy it in the United States.

For her part, Mrs. Josefina Elizalde, who has a used clothing stall in the Rafael Velarde flea market, commented that her economic income depends on sales during the weekends where she sells 300 to 500 pesos per day.

She explained that she buys clothes from other flea markets where they also sell items and used clothes and later resells them at her stand.

On previous dates, the Municipal Public Security Secretariat has seized bales of used clothing, such as on October 11 when they arrested a person for alleged responsibility for the crime of smuggling by seizing 20 bales of used clothing that he illegally introduced into the country.

The arrest took place at the intersection of Villarreal Torres and Teófilo Borunda streets in the Gardeno neighborhood.

The director of Commercial Regulation of the Municipality said that they have carried out operations in conjunction with the Municipal Police in places where they offer second-use clothing for confiscation and their respective fine, however, the merchants prefer to leave the merchandise and not pay the fine.

On many occasions, sellers of used items such as clothing choose to leave their insured garments rather than pay the fine and buy used clothing again to market it.

School directors have also sent letters to the unit to request the intervention of the authority because families hang used clothing to sell on the fences and cyclone mesh of the campus.

The leader of the Fernando Baeza Market, Lorenzo Muñoz, indicated that his members buy second-hand household items at garage sales in El Paso, Texas, New Mexico or Denver.

He explained that they are looking for items such as dining rooms, chairs, bedrooms, washing machines, refrigerators and everything necessary for a home in Juárez, which they go through the small import module to pay their respective taxes.

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