Mercado de Tenis Tepito

Mercado de Tenis Tepito is the big market of sportswear and sneakers in Tepito. Some records still use the old name, the Mercado de Fierros Viejos from a time when surrounding street vendors largely peddled tools and hardware. Since a roof unified nearly all of them, they’ve nearly all switched to selling sneakers and related sports gear. The market continues nearly uninterrupted from two neighboring markets: those of Mercados 14 and 36 Varios.

Some 661 individual vendors call this market home. That’s not quite as big as Granaditas to the immediate south, but then again, that market deals in every other imaginable kind of footwear. Here, the market mostly deals in sneakers and sportswear (trainers, running shoes, athletic footwear) and related sportswear. Perhaps more than any other sportswear market in Mexico City, this one bears of the reputation of “sometimes” harboring rare and collectible tenis. Prices are seldom negotiable.

The market can be a bit hard to find. Two of the outside streets, (Matamoros and Toltecas) are covered in semi-permanent scaffolding. That keeps outside vendors dry, but prevents any recognizable façade from showing its face. Most visitors will enter through one of those two streets. They may not even realize it. Tepito tianguis grows thick.

Hours: Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.