Lithuania's traditional markets, once focused on attracting more customers, are now struggling to find enough traders willing to sell there. According to a representative of the country's market association, running a stall is neither easy nor especially profitable, and small traders are also worried about new requirements floated by some MPs.
At Kalvarijai Market in the capital Vilnius, stalls are packed with goods, and the market is busy at lunchtime. Traders say long-standing customers are increasingly being joined by younger shoppers.
"Young people have started coming round a bit more now. It used to be mostly pensioners, but now people realise the market has the best produce. There really is a difference from the shops – the cucumbers are fresh, delivered straight away," says one trader, who has worked at Kalvarijai Market for 30 years and calls the job a way of life.
"You have to work until retirement. So we just get on with it," she says.
But younger people are reluctant to take on the work – the hours are long, the early starts hard, and the income unpredictable.
