The recent inflation has hit hard the poor people who have been forced to significantly cut down their Eid shopping, said customers and vendors on the footpaths of the capital on Thursday.
They said that this year the prices of all the readymade garments have increase by Tk 50 to Tk 250 in the stalls on the footpaths, reportedly due to the increase in the price of raw materials.
Prices of various varieties of dresses for girls, boys and adults have risen steeply in the pavement stalls, and vendors said that their sales have increased slightly in the last two or three days but far less than in the previous years.
‘A boy’s shirt is being sold for Tk 120 to Tk 150 whereas we sold the same shirt for Tk 80 last year,’ said Mehdi Hasan Sumon, a vendor on the pavement of Indira Road in Farm Gate.
He said that they were selling baby girl’s dresses, which had previously cost Tk 80 to Tk 150, for Tk 120 to Tk 220.
He pointed out that nearly all of his customers were from the lower-income group, mostly garment factory workers.
Mizan said that last year he had bought a shirt and pants for his baby boy for Tk 120. ‘This year I cannot even buy the same dress for Tk 200. They are demanding Tk 250.’
The panjabis (Bengali kurtas) are being sold at Tk 150 to Tk 400 at these stalls while men’s shirt cost Tk 250 to Tk 650. The prices of men’s shoes are Tk 120 to Tk 350 and women’s shoes Tk 150 in the stalls of the pavements in Farm Gate.
Auto-rickshaw driver Mohammad Chanchal said he will buy a pair of trousers and a shirt for his son only on the eve of Eid. ‘This time I cannot afford to buy any new clothes for my wife or myself,’ he said sadly without giving any reasons.
The vendors in many parts of the capital, however, attributed the fall in their sales to the incessant rainfall during Ramadan.
‘We could not run our business smoothly during the entire Ramadan because of rain. We had to keep our stalls closed till 1:00pm due to rain even on Wednesday, the peak time for selling Eid dresses,’ said Imran, another footpath vendor in Farm Gate.
Alamgir, a vendor in Gulistan area who sells saris, said that this year they cannot attract enough customers due to the rain. ‘Due to this, the prices of all the products have increased by Tk 30 to Tk 50.’
Vendors of the footpaths adjacent to the Gawsia Market which is famous for ladies’ wear, said that just a few days ahead of Eid unstitched three-pieces, ladies’ sandals, ornaments, kids’ wear, bedcovers and caps were selling like hot cakes.
Flower sellers Rumi, Tuli and Salma bought bangles and ear rings from the footpath adjacent to Gawsia Market. The ornament sellers there said they had sold ear rings, necklaces, bangles, hair bands and head ornaments for Tk 50 to Tk 300.
Vendor of ladies’ sandals, Rahmatullah, said that they had sold sandals for Tk 150, which is the fixed rate.
Vendor of unstitched three-piece ladies’ garments, Salam, said they had sold the item for Tk 300-Tk 1,500.
There was a huge rush of customers to the footpaths adjacent to Gawsia Market and New Market, and in Paltan and Motijheel, said the vendors.
Shahadat Hossain, who came to Paltan to buy a shirt, said that the prices had skyrocketed.
The footpath stalls remain open from 8:00am to 1:30pm everyday, but the customers mainly come after Iftar and on the holidays, vendors said.
Shathi, who went to buy trousers for her son, said the same trousers they had bought for Tk 300 last year now cost Tk 700 on the footpaths around Gulistan.
In addition to the usual items the pavement vendors are selling cotton, tissue, silk, synthetic fabrics and jeans.
This year items ranging from pajama-punjabi, shirt, T-shirt, trousers, sari, salwar-kameez, readymade garments for children, shoes, caps, attar, etc are available in the footpath stalls.
-With New Age input
