Traditional trade in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, México. The case of swap meets

Abstract

This work was centered on the traditional commerce in the swap meets, which are itinerant markets in the streets some days a week in a public space assigned by the local government once the fee is paid (Delgado, 1992; Teja y López, 2013). The principal objective was to analyze the importance of supply and distribution of goods in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Mexico, and so on the exchange process and practice that took place in that spaces. The work is based on data from a survey applied to a sample of tianguistas (382) and customers (387) in which despite the geographic dispersion, size and commercial business diversity, they have a kind of similarities in terms of informality in the working process and laxity to follow the official standards, particularly in security matters, space and furniture hygiene that is required for that kind of commerce. At the same time the prices and quality of the products. It is remarkable that the development has been favored by the advantage that swap meets offer for customers as the same for merchants next to the capability of the merchants to take advantage for the institutional holes. In conclusion, however the importance for self-employment, the acquisitions of basic goods for the population and social interaction, the permanence of the swap meets it has to be associated with the quality of services, and over the less, with the origin and security of the food that are sold and consumed there.