Operating on Saturdays and Sundays, the street boutique, colloquially known as kotama boutique (i.e. bend down boutique), since one has to bend down to shop, is one of many that are proliferating throughout the country.
We understand that the clothes arrive in huge bales from Mozambique and Tanzania which can be bought near the Mupedzanhamo Market in Mbare. Mupedzanhamo itself is one big kotama boutique and often flea market stall owners around the city buy clothes here, take them for laundry and then sell them for a good profit elsewhere in the city.
You can buy a bale quite easily, except that you don't know what's inside until you open it up. It could be shirts, jeans, jereseys, or even one big pile of soiled underwear...
