Downtown Chisinau flooded with martisor vendors

Every year between late February and early March, dozens of small merchants gather in downtown Chisinau, in particular in front of Gemenii Store, to sell martisors – small red and white stringed talisman objects that people offer each other as a sign of love and friendship. Although the city administration doesn’t issue authorisations allowing trade in that place, the tradition to sell martisors is being tolerated even by the police. Ludmila Buga, specialist-coordinator on trade issues of the Centru District Office told Info-Prim Neo that the vendors should not be allowed to sell in the area because they spoil the image of downtown. Instead, they are allowed to that in the city’s markets and other special places. While some pedestrians complain that the agglomeration of martisor sellers on the pavement in front of Gemenii is inconveniencing them, most people, especially those who come here to buy some martisors, say this is a nice spring-bringing tradition that shouldn’t be broken. At the same time, the merchants say they chose Chisinau downtown because the markets are overcrowded. According to them, each vendor sells around 60 martisors daily, earning from 200 to 400 lei. “Our profits are lower this year because there are a lot of us. We have a tough competition here and everybody has a wide variety of martisors on offer”, one of the vendors remarked. The martisors on offer vary from hand-crafted to machine-made ones, with different decorations attached - amulets, flowers or hearts. Their prices range from 1 to 50 lei. The best selling ones have price tags of 5, 10 and 15 lei. Some martisors were imported from Romania and Ukraine. Martisor is the symbol of spring and also a celebration on the first of March. This custom can be found in all areas where Romanians live. The Bulgarians also have an almost identical tradition on March 1, called Martenitsa.