Kantamanto market mostly known as the famous bend down boutique is more than just a market with clients who come as end users. It's also a stop on the clothing retail distribution chain in the city – just as many stores around the city may source their items at Makola, many "boutique" clothing shops in the city are well known for going to Kantamanto to select and purchase items for resale, marking up the prices in their own stores.
Trading in Accra's Kantamanto Market has contributed to and been tied to the city's economic productivity and liveliness for more than 30 years. Kantamanto is a different and distinct market from Makola, located near the Makola Market region. It is home to around 30,00 dealers, the majority of whom offer used goods, as well as spare parts and household decorations.
The sellers attempting to attract clients are the most immediate noises of Kantamanto. "One, one cedi, belts, one, one cedi," exclaims a woman, her feet and calves drowned in a multicolored, knee-high pile of narrow belts. A vendor weaves through the early morning traffic, hoisting a large bucket of water satchets over her head. She yells, "Pure water!" The loud volume of local highlife music piercing the air as music vendors sell their illegal CDs and DVDs; the haggling between buyer and vendor as they negotiate selling prices.
There are also the zealous preachers who stake out their improvised church premises, screaming their religious dogmas to anybody who can hear them over a megaphone in native Twi or Ga.
At first glance, the market appears to be a maze, with rows upon rows of vendors staking out their spots and selling their wares. There's an indoor, covered market, an outdoor market that spills out into neighboring pathways, and traders with cemented-in stores. Kantamanto, like a classic department store in the West, has its own sense of order, with distinct market divisions. Vendors here specialize (selling a single type of goods), but they also congregate in clusters to attract the most possible buyers.
The vast women's clothing sector greets you at Merchant Bank, where sellers' stalls teem with mounds of stuff, some heaped up together, the most colorful or appealing flaunted on hooks overhead: Some merchants sell women's blouses, others sell women's skirts, while yet others sell women's outfits or suits. Belts for women, as well as nail polish. The men's sector is further into the market, where you can buy T-shirts, jeans, suits, and other items.
There's an area for shoes, a section for furniture dressings (bedsheets, curtains, and towels), and a section for gadgets (where CDs and DVDs are sold).
There's the shoe area, which has everything from authentic Adidas and Birkenstocks to Tom's and Nike trainers, as well as new and used sandals. The majority of the stalls are numbered on the inside, and outside, vendors have encroached on paths and sidewalks, littering both with merchandise for sale.
Men's football shoes, both used and new, are on sale also at Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana, used children's toys too are for sale.
Content created and supplied by: Spanio (via Opera News )
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