Slump in sales, says shopkeepers
SHILLONG: Even though Durga Puja is just a couple of days away, the entire festivity is yet to pick up in the city.
While Puja celebrations will begin from Saturday, the shopkeepers in Shillong are of the view that the sale is definitely not very impressive like previous years.
Kavesh Mordani, owner of Big Glamour shop said that sales have been poor this year even as he believes it is because the economy is in a bad shape.
Lamenting that money is not rolling and people are not spending much, he also said that there are other factors like online marketing as well which has added that to the poor sale.
“ We are however hoping to have a better festive season,” he said.
A. Raza, a shoe shop owner at Iewduh also echoed a similar view by saying people now a days, have to think before spending and probably this is the reason that the sale is not impressive.
K. Das, who sells clothes in footpaths, is hoping that things will improve in the last two days of Puja even as he added that the crowd this time is also very less in comparision to previous years which indicates that people are cautiously spending money when everything is very expensive.
Narayaan, owner of Saree Palace, however, added that sales are manageable this time and it will further improve in the last two to three days.
A shopper, P. Thapa , who is busy shopping since two days for his entire family also said that everything has become so expensive suddenly and hence there is very less crowd in the market.
He also said that some brands in the city are selling their products at reasonable rate and so they are witnessing rush from people.
He also added that another reason for less crowd in the market is the simple fact that most of the people now prefer online shopping which is easy and reliable.
Meanwhile, some hotel owners also said things are improving as far as the arrival of tourists is concerned.
Owners said that tourists have started coming to the city and many bookings have also been done for the next couple of days.