Though mobile by definition, several street vendors have become almost permanent fixtures on Thayer Street. In some cases, these sidewalk businesses are just as established as their indoor counterparts. And while at first glance the two seem not to compete, storeowners do not always view street vendors in a positive light.
"It's ridiculous that they don't have to pay rent," said Steven Beattie, manager of Pie In The Sky, referring to street vendors who sell their wares down the block from his store.
But Beattie said he does not think street merchant Jose Ruiz, who sells accessories he makes out of leather, takes away from the store's business because Ruiz's products are different from those sold in Pie in the Sky.
"It's when they sell what I sell that I have a problem," Beattie said.
Still, Beattie said that he, unlike street vendors, is able to create long-term relationships with customers.
"I build rapport with my customers. (The street vendors) sell and they're gone," he said.
Tory Daines, an employee at vintage clothing store Foreign Affair, also emphasized the importance of establishing familiarity with customers.
"It's not about the merchandise ... it's about the relationship with our customers," Daines said of both merchants and street vendors. She said she did not know of any tension between the two groups, adding that store workers and street merchants actually help each other out.
Daines recalled seeing a store worker defending a street merchant when passersby were harassing him.
Mary Ellen Beaudreau and Ashley Holt, employees at the Brown Bookstore, called the relationship between stores and street merchants "symbiotic" and "chill."
"As long as they're not accosting customers as they come in, it's just fine," Holt said.
Street merchants are not allowed to set up shop on the half of the sidewalk closer to the Bookstore, said Larry Carr, director of bookstore and services. "It creates a liability issue if they're on our side," he said. The other half of the sidewalk is the city's property.
Carr said the bookstore occasionally gets complaints from customers about street vendors, which he compared to loud motorcycles on Thayer Street.
At the same time, Carr said "there's an acceptance of (street vendors) on the street."
"That's what Thayer is about," he said.
"They don't do anything out there that would take business away from me," said Tina Maraia, manager of Store 24. Maraia, who has worked at Store 24 for 17 years, said she cannot remember a time without street vendors on Thayer. She said her relationship with them has always been free of tension.
"They don't bother me so I don't bother them," Maraia said. Ruiz, who works outside Store 24, often comes in to chat or buy merchandise, Maraia said.
"We get along well. ... It's one community," said Ruiz, who is one of the few street merchants who works throughout most of the winter.
Ruiz, who has worked on Thayer for 10 years, said he has not had problems with stores or municipal authorities in the past eight years. He renews his permit every year and pays his taxes every three months, he said.
"(Store owners) have to pay rent, but that doesn't make them better or worse than me," Ruiz added. "The only one that can put the law here is City Hall," he added.
Ruiz said he used to work outside the bookstore eight years ago but was forced to move. Carr said he was not aware of this incident, though he added that if Ruiz had been on the bookstore's side of the sidewalk, he would have been asked to move.
"They complain about everything," Ruiz said of the bookstore. He said his only other conflict with store owners was four or five years ago, with the owner of a jewelry store next to Dunkin' Donuts, which has since closed.
"(The jewelry store owner) never made money, so she would come complain to me," he said.
Restaurants on Thayer must also compete with mobile food vendors such as the Chinese Food Truck, which on weekdays is parked on Thayer across from the Sciences Library. Restaurant managers, however, do not view the food truck as a significant threat.
"It's like comparing apples and oranges," said Ray Hugh, co-owner of Shanghai. "(Food from the food truck) sits there all day. My food is fresh," he said.
Tom Liang, owner of the food truck, sees it in a different light. "My price is lower - half of (Shanghai's) price," he said, adding that he sells food by the volume. Meals at the food truck cost between four and six dollars.
Paul Srisu, manager of the @Ease Café on Waterman Street, which specializes in Thai food, also dismissed the notion that he is in competition with the food truck.
"People who have had Thai food know the difference between Thai and Chinese," he said.
