Market operators carry things and do not hide their complaints: this year it has ruined everything

None of these businesses, which support the family, have been building for decades, but he doesn’t know if they will return to his counter after the quarantine. Some, unwilling to go into debt, agreed with suppliers to return products within days of the quarantine and hoped states would support them.

Another thing that people don’t understand is why, for example, food sales will continue to be allowed in the Hall Market, and the industrial kiosks behind the counter with fruit will have to close and some are more dangerous than others.

Although it is possible to sell groceries, the loss of part of the range will reduce the flow of buyers. Food retailers are already thinking of selling online.

Jūratė Rutkauskienė, who manages a pavilion of more than 100 square meters in the Hale market, where he sells details with a business license, says that he will not return to the market after this suspension. He agreed with the suppliers to return the merchandise. It will simply be unbearable for her to pay the rent for the closed pavilion during the free sale period.

“I am forced to close the store because I cannot pay the rent and the flow of customers has already decreased. I do not see gaps, because the market itself does not reduce the rent and it is unbearable for me ”, says J. Rutkauskienė and says that after the first quarantine, the income fell by 50 percent. but nobody takes that into account.

Rent was refunded during the first quarantine, not now. The only support is a payment of 257 euros. The woman says she will look for work or go to the Employment Service because she has enough experience.

“It is a big blow for small traders who were expecting good operations in December. They bought products suitable for the winter season and now they will not be able to work for a month and a half. The question for the government is why some traders, retail chains, can sell the same products and others cannot.

In our market, non-food products occupy 70 percent. total commercial space. For some reason, the government doesn’t like market traders, “said Leonas Jucys, Halle Market CEO, and says some people will be forced to live without income.

So far, there are no rental subsidies or compensation. The manager predicts that most salespeople will simply leave and no longer return to their jobs. After the last quarantine, about 20 percent did. merchants.

“These are micro-businesses that support not only themselves, but also children and grandparents. I don’t understand why the government had to make such drastic decisions. While the food will be tradable, the flows will decrease. For example, we have several cafes that can offer take-out and are unlikely to have customers. Flows in the market have been drastically reduced. The worst of all is that no one talks about how we will get out of this pandemic and January was the worst month in history. Also, we don’t know if buyers will come back “, – L. Jucys looks forward to the future.

Birutė, who sells socks and leggings, says her business has already been hit hard during the previous quarantine. Buyers have not returned so far.

“I sell socks, socks, but people telecommute, schools are closed. Buyers didn’t come back. I have nothing to live on. I’ve been working here for several years and this year it has destroyed everything. I am against allowing it to be they exchange food and we don’t. We interact with each other. A person buys food, then he comes to us or vice versa, “says Birutė and says that there are no large flows of people in the market, unlike retail chains.

Jūratė, which sells cosmetics, has been saying in the markets for 25 years that it tried to call the Employment Service, the State Tax Inspectorate, but did not do so during the day on Monday. It is unclear if there will be any support from the state.

“It just came to our notice then. Although it was small, it helped a lot. My kiosk is 24 square meters. I work and my family helps me. A lot of money is frozen. Fortunately, we were able to agree with the suppliers that when we were not working we would not wait for pay and pay for unsold goods. At least that was the case during the previous quarantine, “says Birutė and says that after the first quarantine, people returned to it, but if the suspension is prolonged, it is unknown if it will recover.

“If there is normal support, the trade should be stopped. When there are vaccines, we will definitely get vaccinated and continue working,” predicts the seller.

Alina Vertal, who has been trading in women’s clothing for about 20 years, says she has done well so far, but what will not be clear now. I was hoping to win over the holidays as the season changes, invested in it.

“We cannot close just because we have merchandise, we have to pay the rent, we have invested a lot of money, we have taken out loans. It is bad that we are closing our department, although there is not a great flow of people and danger,” says A. Vertal, and he estimates that the total investment in merchandise is only 20-30 thousand euros.

Ms Vertel says it will be difficult for her to survive for months without income with little support. For example, in the good times I took the car in installments and it is unknown how to pay the contributions. There were three people working in this business before the pandemic: her, her mother, and her aunt. Currently, older women are watching and not going to the market.

People who work in the food department don’t feel much joy either.

“Trade has already fallen. People are afraid to go to buy only the essentials. We are humble. We believe that this Christmas will be worse than last year. The mood of the buyers is bad and they do not wait for the holidays,” says Julija, She sells at Hale’s Market Bakery She and two helpers work here.

Rūta, who sells meat products together with his mother, is more optimistic and says that they managed to withstand the first quarantine, they will withstand the second.

“It just came to our attention then. As experience has shown, when the trade in non-food products ceased, the flow of people in the market decreased. My mother and I were saved by online shopping. We transport the products ourselves. ”Says Rūta.

The whole family resorted to moving. Currently, they receive up to 5 orders per day for said trade, but during St. Easter, when it was also in quarantine, it was a dozen orders a day. I had to build a computer and communicate with clients next to the drip.

“It just came to our attention then. If customer traffic decreases, we will buy online advertising and start more active sales. The most important thing is to have enough money to pay taxes, because no one will wait for them,” says Rūta from perspective.