The Structure of São Paulo Street Markets: Evolving Patterns of Retail Institutions

Development in emerging economies leads to a cohabitation of traditional and modern forms of retailing. This diversity allows for centuries' old consumer behavior patterns to continue along with new options. The street markets or Feira Livres 1 of São Paulo, Brazil demonstrate how consumption patterns are culturally determined. Participant observation, both in supermarkets and at feiras , and interviews with consumers and vendors are used to investigate consumer shopping patterns, along with evolving patterns of retail structure. We find that informal markets, such as the feira , are able to coexist with modern, Western‐style retail institutions, partly because of ingrained food preparation habits and deep‐seated consumer impressions about superior qualities offered by feiras ( e.g. , the perceived freshness of the produce). Our findings support the Natural Selection Theory of retail development in that we find evidence of adaptation. Specifically, the supermarkets in Brazil have evolved to include departments that imitate some of the popular characteristics of the feiras .