Makeover for street markets
Outdoor street markets in Greece’s two largest cities are in for a facelift as the government puts into motion a plan to make the popular shopping areas more user-friendly. The Development Ministry said yesterday that traders at the markets in Athens and Thessaloniki will be supplied with 9,000 new market stalls by the end of the year. Apart from helping improve the image of street vendors, the newly designed stalls will provide for waste disposal and will offer consumers the ability to weigh the fruit and vegetables being purchased themselves. Vendors will be able to get an interest-free loan to buy the 1,000 euro benches that have been designed by students at the tertiary technical college of Kozani. Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas said that talks will soon start with producers and sellers toward broadening the trading hours of the open air markets.
