Family heads working for more than thirty years as producers. People who come from far away, from Paphos, Limassol and from mountainous areas to sell their wares. You will see and meet them at the People's Market of “NO”, in Nicosia.
They may have had their heyday, with people queuing up and suffocating the outdoor space to buy perishables and other fresh produce from their stalls, but producers see the People's Market losing its former glory as people don't is renewed, while increases in the prices of agricultural oil and pesticides push them to their limits.
Producers are concerned, however, with other issues, which have created new data. They point to the parking area, which is not controlled at all by the officials, with visitors struggling and having second thoughts to visit the “NO” People's Market. Of course, the producers believe that the low sales are also due to the fact that the world is not renewing itself, i.e. young people are not coming, while they are pinning their hopes for more sales on the Christmas holidays.
It is these problems that were mentioned, during our recent visit to the People's Market, by the president of the producers of People's Markets, Sofronis Sofroniou, who found arbitrariness and a lack of advertising. As Mr. Sofroniou said, “the problems are many and he is under pressure from everyone. We need traffic wardens, to guide the people, when some arbitrarily decide to close roads at access points to the People's “NO”, especially on Saturday when we have more work. Also, our biggest problem is parking. People unrelated to Laiki come in and out, without any control and our customers are left out”.
Mr. Sofroniou noted that they may expect more people during the Christmas days, however Laiki needs advertising in order to gain new visitors.
The same complaints were expressed by Mr. Ioannis Constantinou, a producer from Peristerona, who blamed the authorities. “They left Laiki at her mercy”, as he characteristically said. “They don't seem to care at all. We made many requests, petitions and letters to get them interested, to do something, but they decided to leave her to her mercy. Things are out of control and everyone does what they want and sells what they want, which is forbidden. Also, even people who want to come and shop from us, especially on Saturdays, suffer. Who wants to waste an hour in the car until they find a place to park to come to Laiki? There is no organization at all,” explained Mr. Konstantinou.
The producers, according to Mr. Constantinou, are forced at the end of the day to throw away their products, before they leave. In fact, he asked for the further promotion of Laiki through advertising, so that they are not waiting and have income only on the days of holidays. “People must know that we are cheaper and offer fresh products”, he said.< /p>
Mr. Stelios Papageorgiou is also disappointed with the situation, since he travels from Paphos to Nicosia every day to sell his products. He can sing while working and struggling to sell his merchandise, but the issues that arise every day are not resolved. Even though the prices in the supermarkets are increased and an increase in traffic in Laikes was expected, this is not coming true. As Mr. Papageorgiou said, “it seems that people are not affected by the increase in prices, since they know that we are cheaper and do not buy from here. Of course, they may not have time because of their work and resort to the nearest supermarket for their shopping. But if something is not done to increase the traffic here we feel doomed, since the increase in prices affects us too. We're not going out.”
The people, said Mr. Papageorgiou, have been the same for years and they expect to see new faces on Christmas days. “It's not like abroad where people of all ages go to the People's Markets. If the Government does not want Georgia to dissolve, it must do something. We introduced many proposals, such as the farmer's card to receive reduced prices on oil and pesticides. We are not listened to”.
Ms. Iota and Mr. Theodoros have been coming to Nicosia for years from Agios Theodoros. Their complaint is that, while all the producers promote their fresh products at lower prices than the supermarkets, the world turns their backs on them. Of course, it is also the difficult period they are going through financially, with increases in fertilizers and agricultural oil. “We are getting by”, were the words of Mr. Theodoros when he referred to the price increase. “Everything has become more expensive and if price increases continue at this rate, we may be forced to raise our own prices. Something we don't want”.
On the other hand, Mrs. Iota, wife of Mr. Theodorou, realizes the difficulties people are facing and the limitation they have in their markets, although they expect people in Laiki during the holidays. “We are here because we always had and still have the cheapest products. But the world is facing an economic crisis and because of the upcoming holidays, it is limiting its purchases. We are waiting for people to pay so that we can also have people on the days of the holidays”.
The difficulties of the times are also understood by the retired butcher, Mr. Giorgos Ttoumbas, who sells sourdough breads, sausages, pastourmades, halloumi, and tahini pies, which he makes with his wife, in Laiki. Years in the market, he sees Laiki changing greatly from year to year. “We might expect it to be busier over the holidays, but we see them being cautious about their purchases as they prioritize Christmas gifts over the holidays. People have no money and find it difficult and afraid to shop. They have also made everything more expensive, while people have the same salary. Electricity cannot cost 500-600 euros for a family,” said Mr. Ttoumbas, who has been working in Laiki for fifteen years.
Mr. Chryssos, from Athienou, who has been working in Laiki “OHI” since 1984, appeared more optimistic. “Our market is moderate, it depends on the day. The problem is general in terms of bargaining and demand. The increase in prices brought people together about what to buy and what not to buy.
Ms. Maria Krasia, from Paliometochos, who has been in her post since 1967, is optimistic. “We hope to have more work at Christmas.” Just as optimistic is a mobile florist, who sells the flowers he produces on site. “In the days close to the holidays we hope to have more work”.
But Mr. Antonis Evangelou, from Deutera, who has had his own stalls in Laiki for fifteen years, explains that what reduces the demand in Laiki is the mentality of the people, who prefer to visit supermarkets, even if they know that the products are more expensive. “What consumers cannot realize is that even if the offers in supermarkets show that they have cheaper products, this is not the case. We hope that we will have more people during the holidays”, said Mr. Evangelou.
