AntwerpAnyone who happened to walk across the Groenplaats on Saturday afternoon could score free fries, cake or drink. The reason was, however, bitterly serious: the catering operators around the square protested in this way against the increasing number of stalls selling the same type of products. “We want to discuss this problem with the city council,” says Vincent Schietekat of vzw Groenplaats.
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A stall that sells ice cream just in front of catering businesses that also have that on the menu. Or a smoutebollen stall for sandwich shop Panos. For non-profit organization Groenplaats, the measure is gradually being reached. Schietekat: “We are not against local traders who do not have a fixed location. But what we are experiencing now is unfair competition. I am the manager of a sandwich shop. Yesterday a trader was standing in front of my door selling smoutebollen, churros and fritters. While I was not allowed to expand my terrace at that location myself.”
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Armando Rocchi of Bar Basil is also not good at it. “Just over my cocktail bar, a young guy was selling cava from his cargo bike.”
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Hard times
Shooting cat and Rocchi denounce the lack of consultation. “We understand that all entrepreneurs are trying to make money in these difficult times. But is it too much to ask that the city first had a look at what kind of stalls would settle there? We also have to meet a number of conditions in terms of shape and color of our facade. Those stalls have all the colors of the rainbow.”
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You should not stand on the Meir with a textile stall. For us, traders with flowers, nuts and clothing are welcome at the Groenplaats.
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Schietekat also looks beyond the Groenplaats. “Of course there are other shopping streets where itinerant trade passes. It seems normal to me to avoid that those people sell the same product as the regular stores. You should not stand on the Meir with a textile stall. For us, traders with flowers, nuts and clothing are welcome at the Groenplaats.”
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Nico Volckeryck, regional director of Greater Antwerp of the Neutral Syndicate for the Self-Employed (NSZ): “It is not the first time that we have received complaints about the arbitrary planting of stalls. We have the impression that the city’s administration, which is responsible for the permits, does not check the effect of those stalls on the rest of the catering industry or the shops. That is unfortunate. Our question is: adjust the ambulant trade to the supply in the neighbourhood. Make sure that those stalls are an addition to what is already there.”
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