Erick TrevinoArizona Republic
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Summer in Phoenix can be dangerously hot, with hundreds of heat-associated deaths in the Valley last year alone, and continuous record-breaking temperatures that are making 2024 the hottest summer yet. The best advice from local and state agencies is to stay indoors and avoid the heat, but what happens to those who make their money by working outside?
Throughout Maricopa County, home to Arizona's most densely populated area, street vendors take to the streets every day to conduct their usual sales. Whether it's food, drinks, snacks, clothing or household items, they roam the streets with their carts or in their cars, hoping for two things: that their merchandise sells out and that the stifling Phoenix heat won't cut their workday short.
Street vendors can be found all around the Valley; public parks or busy intersections are a sure way to spot one. But throughout the summer months, many street vendors have to change their work hours to fit the demand of the season, but also for their safety.
"Now in these hotter months, where there are heat strokes and people fainting, we have to stay hydrated,” said Yureli Santos, a street vendor in Phoenix.
Food sells differently
Along with the weather, Phoenicians preferences change as well during the summer and street vendors have to accommodate for this.
"What sells the most in the summer would be raspas (snow cones)," said Santos, who increases her stock of cold items and drinks such as water, sodas, and Gatorades, along with the variety of snow cone flavors she offers.
Small business owners like Santos are not hard to spot: Most of them ride around in a motorized cart or connected to a bicycle. The largest part of it serves as an icebox or refrigerator, where vendors keep their products at a controlled temperature. Especially when it comes to the ingredients to make a raspa, which includes shaved ice in a cup bathed in syrup of different flavors — strawberry, tamarind, lemon, pineapple, among many others — and can be topped off by other sweeteners, like lechera (sweetened condensed milk) or cajeta (caramel).
Another favorite summer snack? Chopped fruit — usually refrigerated — covered in salt, lemon and chili powder.
However, street vendors don't necessarily stop selling certain items in the summer, as they still like to provide customers with a variety of cravings. Instead, they adjust their inventory to keep up with changing demand.
"For the most part, we like to carry roughly the same things, said David Morales-Garcia, a street vendor who has been selling for twenty years across the Valley. "Chips do sell, elote (corn) does sell, but very little and in less quantities."
The biggest problem during the summer is not what items to stock, but how to avoid the dangerous heat.
Avoiding the heat
July is the hottest month in Phoenix, and many street vendors make the switch to starting their workday once the sun sets or — to get more hours throughout the day — working early morning when the sun isn't as strong, taking a break during the hotter hours of the day and returning close to sunset.
This differs from winter months in Phoenix, when many street vendors work consistently throughout the day before the cooler temperatures force them to pack up and head home.
"Apart from hydrating myself, I try to eat a little better, and I try to avoid the hottest hours which will be around 2 or 3 p.m. Those hours are the most brutal", said Morales-Garcia.
Having worked in Arizona for years, he's familiar with the risks that summer months pose on street vendors, and despite efforts to minimize the dangers, the risk is still there. "I try to avoid those hours, but it's always difficult — 6 p.m., 7 p.m., it's still very hot," he said, arguing that the challenge then "becomes about how to overcome those things."
The change in vending times benefits them, as many residents are also looking to avoid the heat during that time.
"The truth is that people don't go out, they don't buy. You could say there is no business; there are no sales," said Morales-Garcia.
That begins to change in the later summer months, when students make their way back to school. Beginning early August, street vendors like Santos say they will start selling at 3 p.m. to catch hungry students at the end of their school day.
Despite August being the second hottest month in the area, vendors have to follow the crowds, and when it comes to working during these times, shade is the best thing one can hope for.
"There are spots where there is shade, under the trees for example. That's where we take a break to hydrate ourselves and not be blasted by the sun," said Santos.
Hydration is key for working in the sun. Drinks that have added electrolytes, such as Gatorade or Suerox, are very popular among street vendors.
Marco Zepeda, a street vendor of over five years, says he'll usually take a break during the hotter hours, but during the weekends, he prefers to work all day. During these days, he manages the heat by wetting his clothes. He'll run his cap under cold water, or carry a wet towel he drapes around his shoulders that cools the body when the breeze hits the wet fabric, helping regulate his body temperature.
All these measures are to prevent heat-related incidents.
“You have to protect yourself or spend the least amount of time possible under the sun because... there is a risk you can suffer muscle spasms or even that you faint because many people have fainted due to the heat,” said Morales-Garcia.
