• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.155-174
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• 2010

In many cases, street vendors are means of living and/or a solution to unemployment for low income group. Street vendors have both of positive and negative effects on traditional market revitalization. This two-sided perspective of the vendors has produced different views of interests groups. In this study, the features of street vendors are examined to present related issues, and a survey result conducted on interests groups is presented to offer effective management measures. As traditional management about street vendors are focused on crackdown, relationship between street traders and government has been not very much mutually cooperative, and at times some traders organized groups who are against government policies. With the premise admitting street vendors as one element of distribution network, it is possible to access the management measures for street vendors in organizational, quantitative or qualitative perspectives. However, I believe it is not recommendable to enforce multi-perspective approach at a time. It is because street traders still have quite strong animosity against government policies. Therefore, serious misunderstanding and side-effects on our society could be brought if the government makes hasty and forcible attempts to legalize street vendors. In political position, overreaching actions of government could hardly produce positive results because policy making and its enforcement need each of timeliness. In a similar way, government's policies for street vendors need to come into effect gradually. Management measures for street vendors can come in short-, mid- and long-term. In short-term, government should try to reduce animosity of street traders along with minimizing institutional and political pressure on them. As a mid-term solution, plans to bring vendors over to institutional boundaries by improving them are required. Last but not least, in the long term, government should design policies which are to help street vendors settle down and maintain successfully in the boundaries. Besides, policies related to street vendors need to come in effect in a way that closely connected to interests groups and businesses because those policies would get involve many interests groups and businesses in diverse perspectives.