SHILLONG: The lucrative business of second hand clothes, mostly opted by students for their affordable rate, has been badly hit due to the lockdown.
Once in great demand among Shillong’s less fortunate lot, thrift shops across the state have taken a body blow as most people are now skeptical of buying the clothes mainly because they come from outside the country. Apart from the drying up of sales owing to the three-month lockdown, the dealers also have to contend with paying shop rent, have added to the litany of misery for them.
Prior to the lockdown, dealers in thrift shops enjoyed a comfortable profit. Even with the shops making a comeback, customers are hard to attract. Few customers were seen stepping in thrift shops while some shops failed to get any buyers, which is in huge contrast with the bustling activities in most second hand shops before the lockdown.
All across the city, the traders this reporter met with had the same story of shrunken market demand and shift in business for keeping themselves afloat.
A second hand shopkeeper in Laitumkhrah, Pleasmily Marbaniang told The Shillong Times that customers had stopped coming to the shops although in its heydays, the shops was thronged by buyers who were mostly students.
“There is no business at all. I had to keep the shop shut as there were no customers. I started selling betel nuts and betel leaf on the streets to eke out a living but was chased away. Now, I shifted the clothes to another room so that I have space to sell other things”, she said.
She said that she started the second hand business with 4 of her sisters and rented a five-roomed Assam type house where the clothes were displayed. Together, the five siblings earned their livelihood from the business which was profitable but took a hard turn during the lockdown. Given the situation, one of the siblings left the business and has resorted to selling betel leaf and betel nut.
The clothes are mostly old stocks from last year. She said that customers stopped coming to the shop when coronavirus initially made headlines in India. Marbaniang said that most of the second hand clothes are from China and Korea.
Another thrift shop owner, David Manga has a shop in Nongthymmai. He had a few customers checking out clothes when this scribe visited the shop. Outside his shop, he displayed shoes priced at Rs 100 and on the other side, there were T-shirts selling for Rs 30 apiece.
Allaying fears about old apparel were a source of infection, he insisted that “these are old stock. People should not fear as there is no coronavirus in second hand clothes”.
He said that the clothes were taken from Bara Bazaar and Delhi. He went on to say that people are buying food and not clothes nowadays. On the other hand, he rued that students from outside the state still owed him some money and said in a resigned tone, “we do not know whether they will come back or not”.
Mary Victoria Marwein, a second hand shop owner in Bishnupur who has been running the shop for 15 years, said customers have started trickling in, though business is not the same anymore. She picks up most of the clothes from Delhi.
Due to lack of customers, she has started selling slippers and eggs apart from other knick-knack.
Another second hand clothes retailer in Bishnupur, Bhadalin Nongsiej said the clothes are old stock. “Customers still come to my shop though there is huge drop in numbers. My husband being a taxi driver, both of had no earning during the lockdown. We also had to pay rent to the house owner”, she narrated helplessly. With educational institutions still shut and movement of people from outside is virtually suspended, there seems to be little hope for an early change in fortune for the once flourishing thrift shops spread across the town. Not surprisingly, many have already started to change track and try their luck elsewhere for eking out a living for themselves.
