SHILLONG, Dec 23: It took a tiny virus to remind us that we are together – in joy and in suffering. The global lockdown has severely hit the economy with businesses struggling to stay afloat. As we slowly bounce back amid uncertainty, there’s hope that things will get better. This hope fuelled The Shillong Times’ Christmas Bazar supplement every Saturday in December, covering the market mood during the festive season in select areas of the Meghalaya capital.
As the year draws to a close, here is a glimpse of the mood right now.
Bread Café is packed with customers. The shop’s owner, Rashi Vaswani, said the sale picked up slowly as the people were unsure if their regular cakes would be sold. The confectioner’s gift hampers sold like hot cakes as people thronged to check out the different festive season offerings.
“My aim is to spread the joy of Christmas in every home. I am happy that people have stepped out to celebrate the Christmas spirit,” she said, suggesting The Shillong Times should continue to bring out the weekly supplement in 2021.
Jaya Vaswani, the owner of Belgian Waffle aired a similar view. The footfall at her outlet was encouraging and she has been better and she felt Christmas Bazar is a platform for entrepreneurs in the city to dream big.
Nandita Hanaman of Nanz Confectionary said their gift hampers had a lukewarm response, but she hoped for a better market next year, not just during festivals.
Edwin Pde, manager of House of Homes said the customers did pour in, a bit of advertising having helped his business. But Bibhuti Swain of Textiles Studio was of the view that people are still apprehensive of stepping out because of the COVID-19 situation and sales picked up less than a week ahead of Christmas.
Manoranjan Gogoi, store manager of Blackberry’s presented a different picture of the situation on ground. He said Christmas did not make much of a difference for retailers. “Business is the same as before since very few are stepping out,” he said.
Nitika Chokhani of SP Textiles and Agency said people opted for readymade products and the sale saw a marginal increase – by 10-20 per cent. The metre system – buying cloth for tailoring later – has not quite worked this time. She was optimistic that 2021 would be a better year for business.
Car sales were better in contrast. Amar Lakiang of Ka Shillong Hyundai could not provide the data on buyers but said business was looking up from the past few months. He wanted Christmas Bazar to continue as “it has the potential to support business ventures”.
Samuel Dkhar of Home Care said most customers preferred gadgets and appliances with low-cost EMI options. Electro Audio Vision did well because of a sudden spurt during the festive season.
With 2021 knocking on our doors, here’s wishing you a new year happy enough to wipe out the virus-induced gloom of 2020.