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Several bars and clubs in Nairobi have banned late-night shoe sellers into their Joints.
This is after it was revealed that some of the hawkers were deliberately targeting tipsy customers and selling them wrong-footed or torn shoes, at a high prices.
Late-night shoe sellers often flood onto the streets of Nairobi from around 6:30 pm and go around heckling the many pubs located in the estates.
The hawkers frequently operate their shoe-selling business from dusk to dawn, targeting generous drunkards with money to spend.
Patrick, a shoe-seller in Nairobi, told Wananchi Reporting that he strictly sells around bars at night, targeting men and women who are out partying.
He says that he begins his day at 7:00 pm and closes business at around 2:00 am, with weekends being his biggest sales days.
“I have been selling shoes for the last seven years, and I can tell you that men can be very generous when drunk,” noted Patrick.
“I remember this one reveler who wanted to buy my entire stock of shoes, almost 14 pairs of women’s shoes. The man was flanked by a group of women he really wanted to impress. I couldn’t take his money because I knew he was drunk,” noted Patrick.
A manager at a bar in Nairobi, John Otieno, noted a few cases when some revelers returned to his pub the next morning carrying three pairs of shoes and inquiring about a certain hawker.
“In one instance, a man came carrying a pair of rubber shoes he had bought the previous night for a child he was yet to have. I learned that the man had not even married. I had to contact the seller and beg him to come to pick up his shoes, and return part of the money,” noted Otieno.
“Some hawkers will sell you torn shoes, knowing that you are too drunk to scrutinize them well for any fault.” He finished
One confider spoke to Wananchi Reporting and claimed that he once bought a pair of shoes for Sh1,500 only to realize that they are of different colours the next morning. BY MPASHO NEWS