Poor flock to flea market, yet sales fall

P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Enthusiasm shone on the faces of the Muara Angke couple as they rummaged through piles of secondhand clothes at Pasar Baru flea market, Central Jakarta.

No crisp, fancy new clothes nor shiny new shoes were peeking from the woman's black plastic shopping bag, but their enjoyment was clear.

"We've traveled so far from Muara Angke to the Pasar Baru flea market to buy clothes for the Idul Fitri holiday," said Munggus, 30. He was shopping with his wife, Kastinah, 28, and their two children, Indra Kusuma, 6, and 8-month-old Muhammad Ridwan.

Munggus' income as a mechanic in a small repair shop at the Muara Angke dockyards means he must find an alternative to shopping at the capital's glitzy malls. Munggus and his family live on their fishing boat after being evicted last month.

After browsing around the market, Munggus finally found a wrinkled white polo shirt on display. Bargaining with the vendor for a little while, the couple bought two shirts for only Rp 20,000 (US$2.35).

"I don't need new clothes, because then there wouldn't be enough money to buy new things for my children," said Kastinah while cradling her baby boy. She happily added that her husband had bought her a new pair of sandals for Rp 10,000.

Munggus and Kastinah only want the best for their children, as with any other parent. Although they could only afford to buy secondhand clothes for themselves, they went into a store that sold brand-new children's clothes.

The flea market seems the ideal place for families like Munggus', but actually, the majority of buyers come from higher income brackets.

"Most of the buyers come from the middle to upper classes," said Tina, 28, a store assistant.

Tina said rich people often visited her store to buy items imported from Korea and Japan. "At this flea market, people can find branded, imported clothes at lower prices."

However, she complained that this year, the sales volume during the fasting month leading up to Idul Fitri was not as high as last year. "Maybe it's because many stores that sell new clothes are having big discounts, so people have chosen to buy new clothes instead of secondhand clothes," she said.

The same observation was made by snack vendors at the Senen snack center which opens for several hours from dawn, many of them complaining that their sales decreased every year.

"I have been selling bika ambon here for four years, and I have noticed that sales has decreased every year," said Joni.

Joni reckoned that the drop in sales was not caused by a drop in product quality, but "simply because the number of customers has dropped".

He also bemoaned the fact that his regulars of many years had cut down on their orders. "They usually buy around a hundred or more per item, but now, they only buy around thirty."

Other vendors echoed Joni's woes. "I usually sell about 4,000 jars of cookies in a day, but now I can only sell about 2,000 jars," said Shinta, 25.