Moda Documenta: Museu, Memória e Design – 2015
CULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICES AT BOM RETIRO: CHANGE AND PERMANENCE
Práticas culturais e comerciais no Bom Retiro: mutações e permanências
Tula Fyskatoris1 (PUC-SP)
Raquel Carvalho Maia2 (UAM)
Mariana Braga3 (PUC-SP: COS | CPS)
Abstract: The neighborhood of Bom Retiro, in São Paulo, is the focus of this study. The diversity of
individuals from various locations, whether from the city, whether from other States of Brazil, compose the
complexity of this street set in wholesale and retail trade of fashion. Such scenario invite us to observe
urban and commercial practices to highlight, here, the marks of identity of numerous migratory groups that
coexist and/or pass through the neighborhood, beyond that, unveiling the permanence of those cultural
traits that make up the neighborhood's memory and the actual development of the city of São Paulo.
Keywords: memory; fashion; trade.
Resumo: O bairro do Bom Retiro, em São Paulo, é o foco deste estudo. A diversidade de sujeitos oriundos de
várias localidades, seja da própria cidade, seja de outros Estados do Brasil, compõem a complexidade desse polo
de rua no comércio de atacado e varejo de moda. Tal cenário nos convida a observar as práticas urbanas e
comerciais para destacar, aqui, as marcas identitárias dos inúmeros grupos migratórios que convivem e/ou passam
pelo bairro, além de desvelar as permanências desses traços culturais que compõem a memória do bairro e do
próprio desenvolvimento da cidade de São Paulo.
Palavras-chave: memória; moda; comércio.
About Bom Retiro
The neighborhood of Bom Retiro situated in the central region of São Paulo4 city, significant
commercial hub was formed organically. Its emergence and expansion are intrinsic to the city's growth – for
the unplanned meeting of various commercial establishments, a mix of shops and services – that
Tula Fyskatoris has a Master and a Doctoral degree in Social History at PUC-SP. Fashion researcher, with special interest in
retail at the city of São Paulo. Publisher of books and of the dObra[s] magazine and editor at Estação das Letras e Cores
Editora. E-mail: [email protected].
2 Raquel Carvalho Maia has a Master degree in Design at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi. She is a journalist and works in
fashion retail at the clothing and accessories segments. Teaches at Senac São Paulo. E-mail: [email protected].
3 Mariana Braga is finishing her Master studying in Communication and Semiotics at PUC-SP (sponsored by CNPq) under the
guidance of Prof. Dra. Ana Claudia de Oliveira. Also graduated in Fashion Design at Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL)
and integrates the Centro de Pesquisas Sociossemióticas (CPS) coordinated by Prof. Dr. Ana Claudia de Oliveira. E-mail:
[email protected]
4 The access to the neighborhood is favored by a wide buses network and, especially, by the lines 1 (Blue) of the Metrô and 7,
10 and 11 of CPTM. In the future, the Line 4 (Yellow) of the São Paulo Metrô will attend the region.
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developed so scattered and disorderly, sometimes favored by offering low-cost real estate acquisition
and/or maintenance.
According to Ponciano (2004), in the Decade of 1880, the entrepreneur Manfred Meyer was
responsible for the development and the urbanization of the Bom Retiro neighborhood – a large number of
farms and ranches of "retreat" for the weekend. It is quite possible, points out Dertônio (1971), a farm with
that name has given rise to the name of the neighborhood. The expansion of Bom Retiro also benefited of
the topography-floodplains of the Tietê and the Tamanduateí rivers along with the railway – São Paulo
Railway that spurred the installation of factories, small trades, warehouses and depots of products.
In the first decades of the 20th century, the Bom Retiro has established itself as an industrial
neighborhood and had the concentration of the poorest population, favored by the proximity with Downtown
– where people could shop and, mainly, obtain employment – coupled with its proximity to the railroads.
The allotment of the neighborhood, comparatively cheaper, was attractive as an option of housing and for
the installation of manufacturing companies by national or foreign entrepreneurs; at the same time,
developed a diversified commerce in order to meet the needs of the local population, which, since the 19th
century, counted with immigrants.
It is worth noting that at that time the neighborhood grew sustained by European immigration, such
as Portuguese (between 1870 and 1890) and Italian (mostly between 1900 and 1940), in addition to the
Spaniards. With the fast urbanization of the city of São Paulo, driven mainly by coffee culture, the Bom
Retiro neighborhood gained the adhesion of other immigrants. Some of them were the Lebanese, Syrian
and Jews – these at the end of the 19th century from the North of Alsace, Africa and Europe – and from the
beginning of the years 1920, from Russia, Poland5 and neighboring countries motivated by poverty and
anti-Semitism due to the first World War (MIZRAHI, 2003).
Nevertheless, in the first three decades of the 20th century, the neighborhood has retained the
residential and industrial functions – the textile factory Afolayan, founded in 1886, was one of the industries
in the region. With the works of the new Train Station of Luz, the construction of the overpass connecting
the streets José Paulino and Couto de Magalhães, and the creation of the passage under the railway line,
giving access to the Alameda Nothman, multiplied the means of entry into the neighborhood.
The living conditions in Poland after World War I were not easy and it stimulated the immigration of several families to Bom
Retiro in São Paulo. The Grunkraut family was one of them, which, according to Maia and Anjos (2015), arrived in the year 1929.
The father Salomão, his wife Regina and their five children, settle in a townhouse in the Ribeiro de Lima Street. He peddled while
his wife were committed to the sewing machine. Shortly thereafter, they bought the first machines and hired seamstresses. In
1933, they create the Manufaturas Varsóvia – its first mane, which eventually turned into Manvar, one of the most promising
beach fashion confections in the 1980’s.
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In the mid-1930, in fact, the Jews stood out in Bom Retiro, primarily as peddlers, and later
established in the industrial and commercial activities. It was at that moment that the neighborhood turned
into a red-light district – transferred from the Downtown primarily for the Aimorés St. Prostitution and the
police action prevailing in the neighborhood until then contributed to the fall of housing prices that have
been purchased largely by Jews – real estate devaluation ensured the expansion of your business.
In the years 1940, according to Truzzi (2001, p. 150), the great concentration of Jews, mainly in the
upper part of the district, improved the development of a conducive environment, "is the business that
prospered, whether in terms of their sociability, culture or religion". Thus, Dertônio (1971, p. 52), referring to
the Jews, emphasizes, "the language of the neighborhood, which in the first quarter of a century had the
influence of the Italian language, is now being affected by the Yiddish language of this people" and that
non-Israelites "effect of assimilation" already starting to embrace it.
In early 1950, the "Jewish neighborhood", as it was called, confirmed its commercial vocation
fundamentally products of clothing, even though they often took picket stores funds and made small sewing
workshops that gave support to commercial activity. In the hands of the Jews there were also small
factories of fine clothes and multiplied the shops of wholesale and retail-focused on the street José
Paulino6 – until 1916, street of immigrants – trade expanded into the street Aimorés, today one of the main
commercial routes (of wholesale) of Bom Retiro. During this period, emerged the first galleries and
shopping malls.
However, this new conformation of Bom Retiro that offered the residential, industrial and
commercial functions in addition to the enrichment and the economic rise from its activities prompted the
Jewish community to abandon the neighborhood. Therefore, they house elected Paulista Avenue and the
neighbourhood of Higienópolis, among others – and to reduce its participation in trade, though remain until
then how much owners of real estate in the region.
Thus, other migratory groups took over the functions commercial and industrial of the
neighborhood. From the years 1950, arrived the Greeks and Armenians. With shy presence since 1900, the
emigration of Greeks for Brazil was driven by Civil war between 1946 and 1949, in such a way that in the
years 1960, there were approximately fifteen thousand in the State of São Paulo – in Bom Retiro, were
Camargo explains that it is a tribute to Coronel José Paulino Nogueira, a farmer born at the city of Campinas. He was president
of the Banco Comercial de São Paulo (São Paulo Commercial Bank), directed the Companhia Mogiana de Estradas de Ferro
(Mogiana Company of Railroads) and gained prominence for his services in the fight against the yellow fever epidemic that
struck his hometown. Source: Dicionário de Ruas (Street Dictionary). Available in:
<http://www.dicionarioderuas.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/PaginasPublicas/ListaLogradouro.aspx>. Accessed in: March 10th, 2015.
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about 100 families (SOARES, 2007). Stood out in the industry of clothing, but with the growth of Korean
immigration to Brazil many gave up and returned to their country of origin.
According to Soares (2007), the first ship of immigrants from Korea arrived in São Paulo in 1963,
with 103 passengers on board. Kim (2009) clarifies that a large portion of the immigrants came from Seoul
and settled in Bom Retiro and, during the Decade of 1960, Koreans began buying stores in the
neighborhood. However, it was in 1980’s that they were consolidated in the region, transforming the family
trade in a corporate structure and, by implementing numerous changes in production processes and
commercialization, they mastered these activities in Bom Retiro.
Consequently, Jews and Greeks abandoned the region's trade. In addition, many descendants of
the Jewish community became professionals in other areas and did not continued the family business –
currently, the Koreans dominate the trade in Bom Retiro but is noticeable the presence of the Jewish
community, as well as Italians and, more recently, of Bolivians.
It is true that, until the year 1980, there are references in the press that signal the presence of
Jewish immigrants in the neighborhood. On the other hand, it is important to note that at this point the
confections stores at Bom Retiro have established themselves as suppliers of finished products for some
stores installed in the neighborhood, as for shopkeepers to numerous localities, sometimes set in exquisite
places like the Jardins neighborhood in São Paulo. In addition, to shopping malls of the city of São Paulo,
which in the last decade won highest proportion – the Bom Retiro converters supply grids of fashion retail.
The Bom Retiro today: between change and permanence
Today, the Bom Retiro stands out among the largest commercial hubs of fashion in Brazil,
especially women's clothing – it has estimated that 55% of this segment in the country has its origins in the
region. There are about 1,700 merchants, of whom 1,400 are manufacturers, which generate around 50
thousand direct jobs and 30 thousand indirect jobs. On average, circulate daily through the region 80
thousand people in festive dates and that number could reach 120 thousand people. Daily, are created, on
average, six new pieces by brand. Resellers of clothing perform most of the purchases (60%) and the
region receives per day about thirty buses from various localities of the country and abroad. The Bom
Retiro moves R$ 3.5 billion per year. 7
The consuming public is not restricted to low-income families – the Bom Retiro trades meets broad
layers of the population. The feminine products stand out on sales volume, followed by accessories,
7
Data available in: <http://www.bomretironamoda.com.br/historia>. Accessed in: March 10th, 2015.
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haberdashery, trims, decorative items, bed, bath & beyond, fabrics and men's clothing. In retail, the
average expense revolves around R$ 200 – in wholesale, the figures range from $ 3,000 to $ 5,000. Of
daily users that pass through the region, 90% are women, between 13 and 70 years of age. From the
sotres in the neighborhood, it is estimated that 80% are destined for women's fashion.8 Diniz (2012) adds
that these women come from mainly southern and northeastern regions of Brazil, of which 60% are owners
of boutiques, small shops and informal goods salespersons.
In Bom Retiro, a large part of the commercial activity is sustained in the manufacture of the
products and, therefore, prices are more competitive and appealing to consumers of various layers of the
population. Especially in the last decade, we have witnessed a remarkable metamorphosis in the
neighborhood encouraged by the corporate management of Koreans, the example of the practice of "sales
of ready delivery".9
Other measures were significant for the mutation of Bom Retiro: the speed in the production and
marketing of products and abbreviation of this cycle; investments in research sets, at the points of sale –
the stores became more spacious and clean; the showcases, elaborated and in tune with the "latest"
fashion trends and consumers gain greater comfort in purchases. Although this still is not a unanimity – so
that, often, the selling points resemble at stores in shopping malls sophisticated of São Paulo, also, the
professionals have become more skilled.
On the other hand, since the early 2000, large retailers chains like Zara and H&M, adopted the
fast-fashion system than in the national market was assimilated by retail chains like C&A, Renner,
Riachuelo and Marisa. Consequently, many of the smaller manufacturers companies laid down in Bom
Retiro and became responsible for supplying these great multi-branding and wholesalers of Brazil.
Consequently, the production cycle became more agile and short and the number of pieces (and updates)
made available to customers (wholesale and retail) have multiplied.
The street José Paulino along streets Cesare Lombroso and Aymorés, comprise a set of streets
specialized in wholesale and retail trade, mainly on female clothing, the so-called clusters that, according to
Nakano, Campos and Rolnik (2002, p. 147) are:
ROTEIRO oficial do Bom Retiro e região, São Paulo, ano 3, n. 3, p. 40-41, 2011/2012.
Until the mid-1990s, it was common for the clothing manufacturer to submit its collection to the customer that realized your
purchase order – on the one hand, that minimized the risks of the manufacturer which produced exactly what had already sold;
on the other hand, it represented a delay in placing the products in stores, apart from the drawbacks and delays during the
production of the pieces, compromising customers sales. For the buyer, there was the advantage of extending the financial
disbursement considering that the payment was only made on the delivery of the products. On prompt delivery, the customer has
immediate access to the products, therefore can make them available quickly on your point of sale, there isn’t need to wait for
the request to be produced.
8
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[...] excerpts or sets of streets and often occur spontaneously, from unprecedented
historically located or anchor ventures, proximity of referential elements, access facilities,
offering low-cost real estate and/or the presence of a built environment conducive to
install the necessary dependencies of storage and marketing. The concentration of
activities, in turn, creates places of reference for suppliers and consumers, reinforcing
traders’ preference for that location, which tends to value and becomes, ultimately, an
indispensable address.10
These specialized streets streamline the time of shopkeepers and consumers that can find all they
need with greater ease and speed. It is worth remembering that the neighborhood of Bom Retiro has other
specialized streets such as street Júlio Conceição (trims); street Silva Pinto (various types of clothing);
street Ribeiro de Lima (handbags and accessories); street of Graça, (knitting, fabric shops and stores of
industrial sewing machines); and the street São Caetano, the so-called "Street of brides". It is important to
note that the street José Paulino is one of the most visited because there is great diversity, especially in
regard to women's fashion and the trade that meets both the wholesale and retail. The streets Aimorés and
Professor Cesare Lombroso, are recognized as "fashion" and more sophisticated (and more expensive)
than the street José Paulino, although they are reserved to the wholesale trade.
At Bom Retiro, there are still options for purchases and services in shopping malls and galleries –
currently, there are 17 in total. In highlight, are the Bom Retiro shopping mall, the largest mall in the
neighborhood with more than 400 stores, and Lombroso Fashion Mall, wholesaler with clothing even from
other commercial hubs of São Paulo, such as Bras and Itaim Bibi, and from other States, such as Goiás.
Nevertheless, with the South American immigration grows, the wholesale trade of Bom Retiro was
built mostly by the work of those immigrants – mainly composed by Bolivians, Paraguayans and Peruvians
as well – and camouflages a serious problem: employment of illegal labor in subhuman conditions. By not
speaking the Portuguese language and not having documents, many of these immigrants end up being
exploited by the owners of the sewing workshops; working in exchange for lodging, food and negligible
paying. The profile of the explorers also comes changing – there are employers of foreign origin, as South
Koreans, also regular Bolivians who open small businesses and hire their fellows in an irregular manner, a
reproduction of a practice witnessed in other migratory groups settled in São Paulo. Another way to drain
Translated from the original: “[...] trechos ou conjuntos de ruas e ocorrem muitas vezes espontaneamente, a partir de
precedentes historicamente localizados ou empreendimentos âncora, da proximidade de elementos referenciais, das facilidades
de acesso, da oferta de imóveis a baixo custo e/ou da presença de um ambiente construído propício à instalação das
dependências necessárias de armazenamento e comercialização. A concentração de atividades, por sua vez, cria lugares de
referência para fornecedores e consumidores, reforçando a preferência dos comerciantes por aquela localização, que tende a
se valorizar e se torna, em última instância, um endereço indispensável.” (Nakano, Campos and Rolnik, 2002, p. 147)
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this production is through informal trade, hazing still in Bom Retiro and common practice in the first half of
the 20th century – the ambulant trade11, is one of the stays that we want to emphasize in this study.
The itinerant trade
Levin (1987) points out that concentrated in the neighborhood of Bom Retiro, be a clientelchic or a
"Russian salesman"12 – synonym for the hawkers (from door to door) or seller for benefits – was the fate of
many Jewish and Syrian-Lebanese immigrants. Bresser (2001) notes that many of the Jews had prejudice
towards arts and crafts and physical works therefore preferred to follow the path of sales works of the
Syrians and Lebanese, selling a little bit of everything.
Figure 1: Syrians and Lebanese hawkers. Source: Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade
Important to remember that in the late 19th century, the stimulus to immigration promoted by the
Brazilian Government to supply the manpower required by coffee economy, on the one hand, increased the
population of the city and, consequently, the consumer market; on the other hand, caused the shortage of
The term ambulant, from the Latin word ambulante, means: the one that strolls, wanders, roams (CUNHA, 1986). As
highlighted by D’Angelo (2000), ambulant is that who gets license by paying it to the City Hall, and so being allowed to
commercialize products in the pathways and public places. The ambulant is categorized as: effective – jogging from one place to
another, carrying on your goods or equipments close to your body; mobile spot – the activities are performed with or without the
aid of motor vehicles, or with demountable and detachable equipment; and fixed spot, ambulant who use non-removable tents in
previously designated locations, in public pathways and parks. For more details about the ambulant trades in the first half of the
twentieth century, see Fyskatoris (2006), chapter 4.
12 With the advent of World War II, the “turcos” (Turkish people) became the ”russos da prestação” (Russians of provision) for, at
the end of the war, being know as “gringos” (GRÜSNPUN, 1983).
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urban jobs, because many of these immigrants settled in the city. Similarly, usually not adjusted to the
activities of the crops those immigrants addressed to work on the trade and on the industry, backed by the
practice as artisans in their homeland. However, as were not always absorbed into the formal labor market,
commercial activity consisted as an alternative and represented an opportunity for economic and social rise
for those who came to live in Sao Paulo.
Truzzi (1997, p. 58) is emphatic about the importance of Syrian-Lebanese immigration to trade in a
general way, pointing out that "the Syrians and Lebanese operated as pioneers, a true revolution in
business practices". The author adds, "[…] yet for all this, wouldn't it be too much to say that they, in Brazil,
'invented' the popular trade, giving official recognition to its parameters as commonly employed today. 13
According to D'Angelo (2000), in the 1930 decade, migrants of Minas Gerais and from the northern
and northeastern regions swelled the mass of hawkers in the region. It was during this period that there
was a strict crackdown on this informal trade, for which the city required license, clean bill of health, among
other documentation. The author warns that the peddlers have become preferred target of the police of
Estado Novo and street vendors14 were held usually under allegation of loitering, making usual street
vendor's association with the practice of illicit activities, justifying why the term has acquired a derogatory
character.
Worth pointing out that long before the introduction of credit systems in the city of São Paulo the
hawkers have instituted the practice of selling the provision. This fact reveals a sharp insight not only to the
shortage of financial resources of its clients, but also to the very survival of their activities, which depended
on the payment even though whimsy and not always constant, of benefits for customers.15 Such mode of
trade remained in the region and, when it was not possible to grant more credit to customers, they made
payments preferably in sight – a practice that remained for long in the neighborhood. However, more
recently, marketers of Bom Retiro ceded to the adoption of the sale with checks and/or credit card.
Initially, the "door-to-door" salespersons suffered merciless criticism from traders of the stores for
uneven competition, primarily by the non-payment of taxes, but a moment later, they became the
employees of major retailers and assisted in the sale of goods, more specifically the "leftovers". Those,
which the hawkers started selling in neighborhoods far from the downtown city, likewise Bom Retiro, that
On this topic, see Truzzi (1971).
The word “camelô”, from the French camelot, means the “merchant who sells trinkets or other items, in the streets, hawking
them typically” (Translated from the original, CUNHA, 1986, p. 143). According to Hamilton D’ Angelo (2000), the term “camelô”
started being used in the city as a reference to the ambulant trade from the 1930’s.
15 The fashion retailers from the end of the 1920’s disseminated the credit system. For more information, see Fyskatoris (2006),
chapter 2.
13
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was until then a peripheral district. Even today, mainly in the street José Paulino, informal practice is visible
in the sale of fashion products (clothing and accessories), as well as on edible sale. Similarly, still applies
the trade of counterfeit goods and/or smuggled with obvious damage to the local economy — and why not
Brazilian – it is possible to observe that keeps on a "collaboration" between formal and informal traders.
Figure 2 e 3: The informal trade – daily practice on the street José Paulino. Collection of Raquel Maia
Commercial establishments
At this moment, we can see the reasons why it is considered that the Bom Retiro is a more
democratic place of consumption. The neighborhood is open and integrated into the community, into the
city; also there is easy access by public transport either by proximity to the central area of the city, and is
diverse in the offer of products and services in such a way that encompasses broad layers of the
population. On the other hand, the universalization of the fashion trends and adoption of fast-fashion
equalized the design of the luxury brands and popular brands. In Bom Retiro, Koreans began to make
quickly available to the market the latest trends yet with different raw material (and inferior) of luxury
brands, which necessarily does not represent an obstacle to the consumer of the "Bomra", as it is known
affectionately in the neighborhood.
The types of establishments present in the neighborhood reveal the marks of migratory groups who
settled there, to live and/or work. At the sophisticated shops, the elaborate showcases exhibit products,
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mostly female clothing – stores that invest in physical arrangement, such as lighting and sound system,
highlighting the pieces of clothing in large and attractive scenarios. Moreover, there is the less
sophisticated stores, mid-sized, that usually highlight prices and promotions, with less elaborate showcases
and without the concern to compose scenarios or seduce customers, which, for example, sells sportswear
– showing traces of the Koreans who imposed a new form region to commercialize.
Figures 4 and 5: On the left, we see a shop a little more sophisticated with stylized and bolder showcases mannequins; on the
right, however, a slightly less sophisticated shop in which we note a minor concern about the visual composition of the
showcase. Collection Raquel Maia
By contrast, there are popular stores with large bunkers on certain "visual pollution", exposing
stacked products, displaying plates with promotional values of low prices and often rely on the help of boys
who stay outside the establishments announcing the deals, calling the subject transiting to buy products,
which are sold inside the shop. At the same time, the stalls of street vendors are set up on sidewalks and
selling all kinds of products, in particular, clothing and accessories. That scenario refer us to the first half of
the 20th century when predominated the trade of small and medium sizes and the peddlers.
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Figures 3 and 4: on the left, a most popular shop that offers a bit of everything; to the right, note the stalls of street vendors who
occupy spaces on the sidewalks of Rue irregularly. Collection Raquel Maia
The diversity of subjects
Roughly speaking, Bom Retiro is governed by excess – buyers and passers-by rushed in one fluid
motion between bodies that (almost) touch while passing through; of colors and shapes that emerge from
the multitude of products that are marketed and that blend with a multitude of bodies. In this scenario, it is
important to consider the relevance of this locality in the Brazilian market for fashion and tourism shopping.
It is not without reason that the region is valued in several areas, so that in the Schematic of
Generic Values (Planta Genérica de Valores - PGV)16 of the São Paulo City Hall (2014), a square meter of
the street José Paulino, for example, reached R$ 8.4 thousand. Interestingly, that value is above the Oscar
Freire Street, in the area of the Jardins (R$8,396 m²), a commercial pole of the city backed to the luxury
retail.
Factors that demonstrate the economic importance of the Bom Retiro as a fashion polo producer
and a center that offers a multitude of pieces, at affordable prices and fast consumption products, which are
in agreement with the rapid seasonality of fashion. Therefore, the neighborhood attract consumers form
16
Corresponds to the assessed value, the basis for the calculation of taxes. It is estimated to be 30% below market value.
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Brazil and even from other countries, such as describe Maia and Martins, (2014, p. 2) about one of the
important streets in the neighborhood:
In José Paulino street, various types of buyers are pulled together, including the informal
salesperson, from sellers of shops to the street vendors, which, in a continuous motion,
trigger the actions of buying and selling, experiencing the democratization of
consumption – or the illusion of it. A shop to another, consumers are hastily with bags
in their hands. Go off in the mass of people and products exposed in public areas to
narrow the amount of passers-by [...].17
Daily, more than 75 thousand people between retailers, professional buyers, owners of small shops
and buyers that are street vendors, move wholesale trade, in addition to individual consumers seeking retail
products with attractive prices. In Bom Retiro, a large part of the commercial activity relies on proper
manufacture of products. Therefore, the prices are more competitive and appealing to those consumers
who come in search of releases, news, good prices and deals.
Final Considerations
In the course of the work, we tried to trace the diachronic of the Bom Retiro neighborhood to reach
the examination that it represents today: a commercial pole, multicultural and filled with multiple
experiences. The story of the neighborhood allows us to elucidate and understand how the neighborhood
that we study can be met in such configures. From "bom retiro" for the rest, it became a good retreat for
those who show, until today, at the city of São Paulo, welcoming them and offering trading, commercial and
cultural spaces. Similarly, makes clear that the plurality of the subject is intrinsic to the configuration of
commercial diversity: from the totally informal trade, passing by the small and medium trade, and reaching
the trade of sophisticated stores and prices that are not so accessible. The miscellany that we see today is
also the mixture of identities that took place previously between peddlers and local traders, foreign and
local. Finally, the study of history and memory in the neighborhood of Bom Retiro allows, also, knowing the
particularities and marks of identity of those who participated in the construction and expansion of
Translated from the original: “Na rua José Paulino, aglomeram-se sujeitos de vários tipos, de compradores particulares a
sacoleiras, de vendedores das lojas aos ambulantes, que, num movimento contínuo, fazem desencadear as ações de compra e
venda, vivenciando a democratização do consumo – ou a ilusão dela. De uma loja para outra, os consumidores andam
apressadamente com sacolas nas mãos. Apagam-se na massa de pessoas e de produtos expostos em espaços de circulação
estreitos para a quantidade de transeuntes [...].”
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neighborhood, constructing a better understanding about the occupation of the city and the development of
São Paulo.
References
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