Traders in different shopping malls of the capital are unhappy about Eid sales this year as the ongoing political unrest took toll on their business.
According to the traders, the hottest items for any Eid are clothes but the sales of clothes were also very slow this year. General strikes called by the opposition party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and political killings during Ramadan made the customers nervous, they said.
‘Sales are slow in compare to last year. Though we feared massive fall in sales after the general strikes, the sales were good,’ said Saiful Islam, a salesman of RD Fashion at Bashundhara City Shopping Mall.
He said the last-minute shopping rush seemed dull this year as the turnout on Tuesday was low despite a public holiday.
Mahbubul Alam, the store manager of Panasonic at Bashundhara City, said, ‘People were already shaken by the political violence in the last several months and hartals during Ramadan made them nervous.’
He said the killing of Juba League leader Milky in front of Shoppers World perhaps was discouraging people to stay out late at night.
‘Usually, two weeks before Eid the market remain open late at night but this year we are closing by 10:30pm because of lack of customers,’ he said.
He said the sales of mobile phone increased for Eid but the sales of home appliance dropped significantly.
The turnout of customers was also seen low at Eastern Plaza and shopping malls on Elephant Road on Tuesday.
The traders said because of the 48-hour hartal by Jamaat just after Eid forced many people to leave the city ahead of their schedule.
‘Many people left the capital by today (Tuesday) with a plan of coming back just after the Eid day as hartal will start afterwards. So to spend more time with their family living at villages people left Dhaka with a rush which affected the last-minute sales,’ said Joyeta Fashion’s salesman Arif.
Some traders on Elephant Road said people were more enthusiastic about brand shops these days which was affecting the business of the regular shops.
‘Now people want brand name as it adds social values. Regular shops like ours are losing urban crowd,’ said Md Solaiman, manager of Rimjhim Store on Elephant Road.
Traders of shoes, however, seem having better business than others.
Raihan, a salesman of Bata Shoe Company, said the sales were good in compare to last year.
‘The sales seem similar to last year and the turnout of customers is also good,’ he said.
-With New Age input
