Tailbacks on roads, crowds at malls
With Eid-ul-Fitr fast approaching, all roads yesterday led to the city’s shopping centres, which witnessed one of the biggest crowds in recent times.
“Our store is packed with Eid shoppers. We couldn’t be more pleased,” said Mohammad Ismail, a salesman at Additta Trading, a womenswear store at Eastern Mollika Shopping Complex.
Thanks to the widespread popularity of Indian TV serials, Indian saris, which cost between Tk 3,000-6,500 apiece, are selling like hot cakes, he said.
“The local jamdanis and taants are also selling well, particularly among the older women,” said a busy Ismail.
It was the same story over at Stylus, another womenswear store at Eastern Mollika.
“The crowd at my store is simply unbelievable,” said Kamrul Hasan, a salesperson of Stylus, which specialises in Pakistani lawn fabrics.
Hasan said he himself sold 8-10 pieces of unstitched lawn salwar suits a day over the last couple of weeks. Their prices range from Tk 8,000 to Tk 26,000.
“The business is very brisk,” he said, while refusing to give a sales figure for the day.
The New Supermarket, too, was buzzing with Eid shoppers. But Dildar Hossain Babul, a salesman of New Dhaka Fashion, a menswear store at the market, however, was not too happy about it.
“The large crowds do not always translate into sales. Genuine customers are staying away because of the mad rush of people,” he said, adding that his sales yesterday were “nothing to write home about”.
Matiur Rahman, member secretary of New Supermarket South Building Traders Association, said many are avoiding the market altogether because of the long tailback.
“One has to leave one’s vehicle 2-3 kilometres away from the New Market Area to get here — it’s crazy out there.”
Md Monir Khan, the in-charge of Bull’s Eye, a womenswear store at Bashundhara City, echoed Babul’s views.
“Sales so far have not been good at all. People are simply browsing the clothes, but from outside it seems like we are raking up huge sales.”
Khan, whose store sells salwar suits between the prices of Tk 2,000-50,000, hopes sales pick-up in the coming days.
“I’d much rather prefer a small crowd that actually bought things off us than the current one.”
Source: The Daily Star
