BARGAIN HUNTERS’ DELIGHT
By Daniel McCool

Many Vallartans make the trek to Guadalajara for the cultural activities there, the history, the museums, the bullfights and the feel of a big (three million population) city. But a good portion of the visitors go with the intention of doing some heavy-duty shopping. Being the industrial hub of Western Mexico, Guadalajara’s factory outlet stores and tianguis offer large selections of goods at reasonable prices, but don’t expect to use credit cards.

Tonalá is a center for artesania, ceramics and other hand-crafted goods, and San Juan de Dios (adjacent to Plaza Tapatio) was once the largest marketplace in Mexico, selling many different manufactured goods, though sometimes of only average quality.
In the case of clothing, the knowlegable bargain hunters gravitate toward the Friday tianguis (temporary street markets) in the area of Medrano Street in the central area of the city. Here, for blocks and blocks, there are stalls selling women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and shoes, offering both current fashions and standard economical work and school wear. Dealers offer prices for both personal and retailing buyers, although differences in prices are not great. Fitting rooms are almost nonexistant, so having a good eye for sizes is handy.

Apart from clothing, there are stalls that sell linens, toys, music, health and cosmetic aids, fresh fruits and vegetables and manufactured consumer goods. The stalls, which seem to go on for about 30 or 35 blocks, cross rather than line Medrano Street.

Medrano Street itself has many discount jean and “disco-style” clothing stores. What appear to be good quality imitation Levis jeans sell there for about nine U.S. dollars a pair. These stores are open all week, although the Friday tianguis are worth the effort of seeing. They are open 5 a.m.-5 p.m., with the earlier buyers getting the best merchandise. By 2:30 or 3 p.m. more and more sellers already are putting their things away; if you are not careful and are rushing around at the last minute as they are closing, you might end up being smacked by one of the poles as they are disassembling the stalls! (Believe me, it happens.)
Those who take pride in having only the top-of-the-line, famous brand-name clothing probably won’t be impressed by the Medrano tianguis, but those who are good judges of quality and who get tired of their clothes before they wear out anyhow, will find Medrano a fun and inexpensive way to pass a Friday. One disappointment for this writer, though, was the lack of men’s shoes larger than size 10 US.

Buses to Medrano from the Vallarta’s central bus station are red and marked number 710. From downtown Guadalajara, take the number 214 or 45 for about another 10-15 minutes.