Christmas fairs: the hope of SMEs Christmas fairs in the center A Christmas bazaar in Las Condes

Bachata and a seller of water pistols who spray passers-by to promote their products welcome these days to Meiggs, a neighborhood known for its chameleon-like offers, as merchants adapt their products to the season of the year If it's March, school supplies. September? Folk costumes. During December, gifts for children and Christmas decorations take over the stalls in the sector located in Estación Central, a must for Christmas fairs these days.

Everything is sold, like a kind of mall without walls and with lower prices. There are toys, appliances, decorations, food, and even firecracker vendors. Plastic is the predominant material. A lot of big brand clothes, but fake. Although more than 30 degrees hit the asphalt of Santiago, the Christmas products pretend that in Chile the end of the year festivities are lived in a cold climate. Cans of fake snow and bundled up characters line the streets. Some of the stores sell only plastic trees and they look like a five-by-five-meter forest.

People battle between cars with buses, carnival carts and even suitcases to advance through the narrow streets, which have stalls on both sides and in the middle of the passage. The backpacks are not carried on the back, but forward. Some even lock their bags. From time to time, the merchants count the tickets they have won during the day and keep them in a banana tree.

One of the merchants adapting to the season is José Oliva, who also serves as president of the Paseo Barrio Meiggs union. In his place, which has no name, Christmas decorations and plastic toys are sold. "They are traditional products, which one is used to selling every year, because he knows that it is a safer sale," he proposes.

Oliva maintains that after the social outbreak, sales fell by 40% in the entire neighborhood compared to 2018. ”We believe that there is a lack of security. There is a disorder, blocked streets. Today, each merchant takes care of his square meters”, explains the merchant. He adds that Meiggs allowed it to supply different Christmas fairs throughout Santiago. However, several of them have been cancelled. He acknowledges that today more public arrives, but argues that the cake is distributed among more. José Oliva estimates that 80,000 people can visit the neighborhood on the Saturday before Christmas. This will be your first year making card sales.

If you take a few more steps along Salvador Sanfuentes street, you will come to the stand of Bladimir Espinosa, a merchant known for his trips to China to buy products who has been working at Meiggs since 1985. He proposes that the drop in his sales is something that drags on from before the outbreak. The seller estimates that he sells 25-30% today than in 2016. ”Here we are liquidated, because there are bad managements. Sometimes they don't let vehicles through, it's full of street vendors. They need to work, but someone has to order, give them a street”, he claims.

He usually sells toys, such as horses, scooters, and skateboards; but this season he replaced them. ”The toy has already died, because the child is with technology. We are not technological, but the children are poh. You see a one-year-old boy and he is already using technology”.

Like Oliva, Espinosa believes that people are still going to Meiggs, but that there is more business. “Before, trade reached Grajales. Today it is reaching Blanco Encalada, four blocks away”, he maintains. He pays 130,000 pesos a month for his position, but he hasn't been able to pay for two months. Today, he sells the toys he had left over from his last trip to China along with his new investment: the carnival carts.

Constanza Núñez only visits Meiggs when she needs something specific that, she knows, she can find in the neighborhood. Today her reason was to buy a Christmas present for her four-year-old sister. Walk with a pony doll inside a nylon bag, which is prohibited in supermarkets. ”I ​​find that it is just as full. The times I have come are the same as now, although those times are normal days, not before parties”, he says.

Mariela Toro walks through Salvador Sanfuentes in search of Indian products, such as incense. "It's very hot, it's very crowded, you take risks, the place is also ugly, but you can find good offers," she says. Jonathan Valdivia visits Meiggs because it is cheaper than the rest of the stores and, according to him, there is more variety. She looks for toys for her two children and six nephews. ”Every year we come, but this year there are fewer people. But the prices have not changed”, he maintains.

To face the drop in sales after the social outbreak, a month ago the company BarrioMeiggs.cl began to operate as a market place, that is, , a website that allows sellers and buyers to interact virtually to achieve a transaction. There are currently five stores in the neighborhood that can offer their products in the digital showcases of the site. However, the company's sales manager, April Toledo, maintains that several more will join after the end of the Christmas season, to be prepared when it is time to sell beach and pool products or for Valentine's Day.

Meiggs merchants have the option of contracting plans from $50,000 to 200,000 pesos per year. The smallest plan allows you to publish 80 products, while the largest, 1,500. According to Toledo, the idea of ​​the site is to offer the same products at the same prices, with the ability to ask the vendors questions, but without having to go to Meiggs.

Four kilometers from Meiggs, in the Forestal-Bellas Artes neighborhood, the “Elijo Pyme” Christmas fair took place on Saturday, December 14, when Christmas counted down. With traffic interrupted in José Miguel de la Barra, between Merced and Ismael Valdés Vergara, and with the Baquedano, Universidad Católica and Santa Lucía stations closed, more than 450 stands were set up in the middle of the street for entrepreneurs to offer various products. Clothing, food, antiques, pet supplies were the most recurring. It is common among the stands to see posters promoting their web pages or profiles on Instagram, since many do not have a physical location where they can sell regularly.

Sabrina Pavez wanted to go up San Cristóbal hill with her bus, but she found the fair in the center and decided to stay: ”It is an opportunity for SMEs to show their products, instead of choosing the big commercial houses, one can choose something original, see the effort of the people and pay for that effort.”

Alejandra Manríquez, a resident of Santiago Centro, found out about the fair online and wanted to attend with her whole family: “We have bought lots of gifts. We found things for babies, sauces, organic pasta, many gourmet things”. Williams Alarcón was leaving school when he came across the fair. “I haven't seen so many people in a while. I was surprised to see so many people here, so many locals after everything that has happened,” he says.

Alejandra Hernández is the creator of La Tiendita, a business specializing in wooden toys and books for preschoolers. In 2017, Hernández was left without a job. At that time, his son was two years old. “My friends asked me where I bought my son's toys. From there the idea of ​​starting to sell was born”, says the businesswoman. She explains that her products have the particularity of being educational, since they allow different skills to be worked on, as well as being more sustainable than plastic. The store operates all year through social networks (@La_tiendita.chile on Instagram). Although she takes advantage of occasions such as Children's Day or Christmas to participate in fairs, most of her income is thanks to social networks. She even pays these platforms for advertising.

Ten days before Christmas, “Elijo Pyme” was the first instance it had to offer its products during this holiday season. “Since the social outbreak it has been terrible. Oneself is not buying 'unnecessary' things, but rather, because of this uncertainty, one allocates the money for other things”, he says. However, he acknowledges that at the beginning of December the situation improved a bit.

Like Hernández, “Elijo Pyme” is the first time during the season that Karina Catalán and her husband Cristián Sánchez can offer the products of their venture, Cactó Recycling. This microenterprise has been making jewelry from coated magazine paper for five years. Sánchez is a designer and shapes the pieces. Catalán works in human resources, but at the same time he sells in his family business. “It is a tremendous opportunity, because the sector is very good. When I was just settling in, I sold 10,000 pesos,” says Catalán.

From magazines that they donate, they take out the covers or sheets with color to give shape to the pieces. They make earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings. They are inspired by a technique used by Ugandan women who work with wet paper. In addition, Catalan was taught at school to work this technique, although not so developed. Remember that in 3rd grade he gave his mother a necklace made of magazines.

The couple sells through Instagram (@cactoreciclaje) and participates in the Eco Mercado de Barrio Yungay. According to her, this season has gone more or less. “It has been super slow. Sometimes we haven't even been able to participate in fairs, because they aren't doing them, because the turnout is very low,” says the businesswoman. Although for now Cactó recycling is her side job, Karina Catalán hopes to be able to dedicate all her time to her venture in the future.

A few meters further south, is the Autónomo stand (@Autonomo_oficial on Instagram), Fernando Miranda's micro-enterprise. The project is close to completing three years. It specializes in men's jackets, although it also makes sweatshirts and sweatshirts. He is in charge of the entire production process, since he makes the design, the patterns, buys the fabrics and then cuts and sews. Making a jacket can take you a whole day.

The merchant says he is self-taught, having learned to make jackets from YouTube tutorials and from trial and error. “I try not to follow the retail trend, which is always a super basic color palette. I try to include glitter and things that are not common in the trade”, explains Miranda.

Unlike the other entrepreneurs at the fair, Miranda does have a store. It was being installed half a block from the Santa Isabel Metro just when the social outbreak began. This station was one of the first to register massive evasions, in advance of what would be on October 18. She had to close the store for a month, because people didn't come, although nothing happened to her store. Although his store is open today, he wanted to participate in Yo Elijo Pyme to publicize his jackets. Compared to Christmas 2018, Miranda estimates that her sales have halved this season.

If you go up another eight kilometers, you will arrive at Parque Araucano de Las Condes, the place where the Christmas Bazaar was held. Although it is smaller than the other events, the place brings together entrepreneurs who are excited to have a place to sell their products. A human-scale doll of Old Man Easter, an inflatable snow globe and a sushi food truck welcome visitors.

One of the merchants is Marta Blau, owner of an advertising clothing company that has carried her name since 1998. As a result of the social outbreak, the demand for advertising clothing dropped and the end-of-year festivities were suspended, which they are his forte. She started stepping in and fusing clothes for herself in the spare time she had after the outbreak and the people around her started liking what she was wearing . “I really like jeans, so I started working on it. I am the showcase, in a way, because I wear what I do”, he proposes. He assures that in the morning a woman took a pair of pants that she was wearing. "He told me 'no, it's that I want it'. I took it off and put another on,” says the businesswoman who wears jeans. “I like getting used jeans and dresses, but from designers. I have Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger. The fusion with my touch is wonderful”, he says between laughs. Each of the garments he makes is unique.

Also at the fair, Priscila Coa offers sourdough bread samples to those who pass by her stand. His venture is healthy bakery and pastry. It was born out of a personal concern of Priscila's, since she started making sourdough bread with wheat flour for herself. Then he started selling the bread and people started asking if they made gluten free products. This is how he began to introduce himself to gluten-free flours and discovered that sourdough is not only good for bread, but also for pastries. Now, it tries to meet the needs of people who have different types of illnesses or food allergies.

In addition to selling, she teaches how to make bread and sweets based on gluten-free flours. ”A healthy diet does not mean eating lettuce and tuna, but that one can eat healthy in a rich way”, she assures. Throughout the year he works for Instagram (Primitiva.cm) and teaches classes at home, since they do not have a place.

Unlike the rest of the entrepreneurs, for Priscila Coa the social outbreak meant an increase in demand for bread-making classes. "In recent times I have seen that there is a great need for people to want to make their own products, especially bread," she says. She relates it to the uncertainty of the period.

Mauricio Gabella (Mauro_gabela), a designer by profession, is dedicated to analog illustration in watercolors and inks. His business is named after him. For four years he has developed material for fairs such as Comic Con or others related to fan art. I have developed by-products from there, such as framed prints, picture books, and magnets. Each of the illustrations that he exhibits is made by him.

Today, watercolors are his only source of income. “I had a design agency for a long time, but it didn't go very well. I've always been undertaking on the side. When I had to be without a job, two years ago, I started doing watercolor work”, says the illustrator.

He's been to Comicón twice in a row, where he says he's doing well. “There are many people who make fan art, but fewer make fan art in watercolor. In general, I have a very good reception of what I do”, says Gabella. Since the outbreak, however, it has dropped events. His work depends on the events that take place throughout the year.

Just the weekend of the outbreak, he had a convention in Villa Alemana. Instead of two days, the event lasted one. Then he went to the Comic Expo at the GAM, in the middle of Alameda. It was done, but there were few people. The professional points out that online and on-demand sales have increased, although he acknowledges that it is little.