There are two main retail forums in the Cities; shops and markets. They have roughly an equal importance. As a very general rule of thumb, markets sell staple goods, are cheaper and more generalised, whereas shops specialise in certain items and tend to be more expensive. However, there are various exceptions to this rule (see below).
Markets are, theoretically, held regularly in virtually every square in the Cities. The only official exceptions are Parliament Square and Vellers Square in Jalkin, and Ansell Square, Yaleth, where virtually all kinds of trading are banned. Each of the other squares are authorised to hold a market on a set number of days a week/month. How many, and whether the Guards will turn a blind eye to trading on other days, largely depends on how busy a thoroughfare the square is. fortune Square, by Jalkin's south gate, is lucky to have one a month; meanwhile Fortune Square in the backwater Tonelays district gets away with practically a permanent market. The majority of stall sell fruit and veg, wheat, bread, cakes and so on, with a number offering hot pastries and other snacks, and others hot drinks (warm milk in the winter, graf at any time). Other goods include small handicrafts, generally made domestically by local residents. Clothes are sold to some extent but are mainly the preserve of the shops. Around the Forgar workshops, various offcuts and rejects are frequently sold at knock-down prices - again, the bulk of workshop produce is bought by shopkeepers. Stallholders are invariably small, independent operators. A number are farmers who journey from the surrounding countryside (usually monthly) to sell their produce directly. Such sales, however, are more commonly handled by middlemen traders, who themselves often deal directly with only the stallholders themselves.
Markets have a social as well as an economic function. They are places for neighbourhoods to meet and exchange gossip. They are particularly important in poorer districts, who have no other venue except the pubs. (All neighbourhoods hold their own markets; those without convenient squares hold them on crossroads.) Those on a day off often spend hours talking and mingling between the stalls, making only the occasional purchase. Other common sights include newsheet vendors, buskers, entertainers and stalls running small games and competitions, all of which add to the semi-festive feel. Politicians frequently use market days to hector their electorate, and soapbox demagogues, acting companies and salesmen from grander businesses likewise take advantage of the concentration of people seeking diversions.
Being public places, markets are naturally owned and run by the city Councils. Pitches are leased by individual stallholders, a process controlled by the Trade and Industry Councillor ever since a big bribery scandal in 1283 forced it out of the hands of the praetors who formerly ran it. Bribery is still said to be endemic, but is unproven as yet. There are also a number of custom-built market halls; Tinners Barn, the Pemby Exchange, Fishguard Square, the Trove and the Lintel Emporium being the most notable. These are generally indoor venues, but more importantly are privately owned and run (although licensed by the Council), in turn leasing out pitches to stallholders.
Fishguard Square is perhaps the chief market in the Cities. However, beyond being divorced from a specific neighbourhood it differs only from the standard model in terms of size and regularity. While being held daily and carefully vetting its stallholders to ensure both quality and diversity of goods, it again largely caters for those wanting basic foodstuffs. However, there are a few more specialised markets. Drayers Square once a week hosts a livestock market. Pastoral farming not being especially intensive around the Cities, it is largely dominated by horseflesh though a number of farm animals are sold to Cities butchers. The Tove was established in 1319 to retail jewellery and other metalworks. The absence of 'treasure' from its name is telling; almost all pieces sold there are cheap, badly made junk. Tinners Barn, which functions as a warehouse most of the year, opens every Garreday to sell antiques and curious from across the continent and beyond. Merchants converge on it to display the jewelled teeth of snakemen from Ellniss, quartz chipped from caves far beneath the Zanzins, rings looted from the treasure houses of the old Kings of Jurland, snuff boxes (apocryphally) fashioned by the Eldar race and so on. Tinners Barn is so popular that it can charge a fee for admittence alone. The goods are so costly that most people visit simply to gawp, and any sales are made to aristocrats who fancy themselves as collectors.
There are a few shops who operate as general stores and, as such, offer competition to the markets. They tend to sell less foodstuffs and more odds and ends; cutlery, furniture, handicrafts, small items of clothing and (especially) newsheets, all at a cheap rate. Most are owned by Tomas Listel, who made his fortune through similar stores across Christoté and is trying to establish a beachhead in the Cities. However, his success has been limited to date, and as many old stores seem to be closing as fresh ones are opening.