Others had set up their own stalls to sell - or exchange - products, including vegetables and shoes. One woman - who did not give her name - said few products were left after looting plagued the city.
Russia seized full control of Mariupol earlier this month when more than 2,400 Ukrainian fighters who had been holding out surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steelworks.
Moscow's capture of Mariupol helped it secure full control of the Sea of Azov coast and create a land bridge linking mainland Russia to Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described Mariupol as "completely destroyed", but Moscow has pledged to rebuild it.
Both sides have accused each other of targeting residential areas and ultimately being responsible for the charred, largely uninhabitable apartment blocks that now make up most of the city.
It is not known how many civilians remain.
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special operation" to demilitarise its southern neighbour.
