SHILLONG: Though Durga puja is just a couple of days away, the puja fervour in the city’s commercial hub Police Bazar is yet to pick up its full pace.
Looking at the market scenario, that precedes this festival, the mood is mixed.
Dev Kishan Mordani, the Owner of famous Uncle’s shop at Khyndailad said that the market was average as of now but he was hoping that the sales would pick up its pace from Monday evening.
He also said that there was not much impact of Goods and Service Tax (GST) as of now into the sales even as he added that market sales had increased since last week.
He also said that the flow of customer was slightly down due to rain in the city.
On being asked about the online sales which has become a new trend, he said that the online sales did affect the business but many people had started losing their faith in online products as people had been taken for ride by online marketing companies.
He further added that people liked to feel products live rather than depending on mere photographs to take a decision.
On the other hand, J Ahmed, proprietor of Eden Residency Hotel also lamented that tourist flow had reduced after the train services were affected and many bookings were either cancelled or diverted.
He, however, added that some bookings have started coming now and they are expecting good tourists flow during the festive season of Puja.
Echoing similar views, a road side vendor who sells shoes in Police Bazar said that the business was not as good as it used to be last year
“Last year, we did not had time but now there are less customers,” he said.
A shopper while interacting with this scribe said that the goods had become very expensive in the town and they had to do a lot of calculations before buying the goods.
