The area is mainly related to the wholesale pyrotechnics industry and festive events,[2] including the businesses near the street of the same name and its surroundings Cuzco, Andahuaylas and Puno,[3] in part of the pre-Hispanic canal of Huatica, considered Cultural Heritage of the Nation.[4] It occupies an area of around 90 thousand m2 and is home to around nine thousand merchants, fifteen thousand in 2012,[5] who are found in hundreds of stores among the 163 galleries or small shopping centres.[6][7]
Initially, as reported by El Comercio in the 1950s, Mesa Redonda was an area for street food sales.[8] The place was modernised in the 1980s with the urban expansion of Lima,[7] and during the mandate of Mayor Alberto Andrade it housed several merchants.[4] Since 1994 the original gallery has been owned by Ricardo Wong and operated jointly by the Chamber of Entrepreneurs and Merchants of Mesa Redonda.[1]
Next to the central market, it is one of the well-known commercial areas in the centre of Lima that concentrates the popular market. Around 200,000 visit the gallery every day,[7] with records of 700,000 buyers on the night before Christmas Eve in 2015,[9] and around a million on the last day of 2017.[10] A Global Research Marketing survey in 2014 indicates that one in every four respondents would buy school supplies in this area.[11] In 2019 the estimated daily revenue was US$20 million.[12]
Incidents
The place is infamous for being a repeat offender of fires in the city, a product of the invasion of informal commerce, including the formation of clandestine warehouses and their expansion in the narrow street that hinders their evacuation.[3][6][13][14] Between 1991 and 2010, eight fires of considerable magnitude were recorded, including the one that occurred in 2001 with more than 270 deaths in total.[15] Meanwhile, between 2014 and 2016, the majority of city fire reports were made in this area.[16] In 2021, a small fire was recorded again.
In 2003 it had 11 hydrants in case of a possible fire threat within its so-called "critical zone."[17]
In 2023, the commercial area was declared a rigid zone by the Municipality of Lima to prevent street sales and parking.[18] In that year, measures were taken to mitigate quota collection mafias while Christmas shopping was carried out.[19]
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