Amid the labyrinth of stalls at Yiwu’s small-commodities market – the world’s largest wholesale hub, located in eastern China – Canadian retailer Luke Therrien weaves through aisles of Christmas trinkets, keychains and gadgets, scanning for suppliers he once sourced through American middlemen.
Those intermediaries used to curate goods from hundreds of Chinese factories and repackage them for North American retailers like Therrien, the CEO of his company.
