Sales at shopping centres drop sharply amid blockade

Some rickshaws passed by, a couple of covered vans sped away, while many of the pedestrians were found walking their destinations. On either side of the road, the rows of shops have employees, who were seen spending time with their mobile phones.

Due to the BNP-Jamaat blockade, it took remarkably just 20-25 minutes to travel from Urdu Road to the Islampur cloth market via Chawkbazar and Mitford by a motorbike, which is nearly inconceivable under normal circumstances.

Businessmen who were passing idle time told The Business Standard that buyers from outside Dhaka cannot visit there during hartal or blockade. As a few businessmen from different parts of the capital turn up amid fear of risk of being victims of violence, sales have fallen by 70-80%, they said.

The traders say although police personnel were vigilant they still feel concerned about their safety during the tough political programmes.

Like Islampur wholesale market, similar scenes were seen at retail markets in the capital.

A visit to some retail markets, including the popular New Market, Bashundhara Shopping Mall, Metro Shopping Mall, Rapa Plaza, Shyamoli Square, Mouchak Market, and Fortune Shopping Mall, it was found that the markets were completely empty. Sellers said that buyers do not come to shopping malls due to safety fear amid the blockade. As a result, sales are down, they said.

The Dream Zone store in the Asian Plaza on Islampur Road sells wholesale three-piece suits. The manager of the store and three other people were found gossiping. Manager Mohammad Javed Mahmud said, "80% of sales are down. If customers cannot move around normally, they will not come here. That is what is happening, buyers cannot come, and sales fell sharply."

Abdul Latif, the manager of Luxury Fabrics, also shared the same situation. He said, "Buyers from outside Dhaka cannot come. As a result, sales are almost non-existent."

There are over 6,000 wholesale shops at Islampur, making it the largest cloth market. These shops have small and large factories to manufacture clothes. The average number of employees in a small shop and its factory is at least 10. There are even more in larger shops. According to this estimate, over 60,000 people are directly involved in the operations of the market.

Traders expressed their fear that if the blockade programme prolongs they will be in serious trouble.

"Police are vigilant to provide security, and shops are open. But there is not much profit to be made by keeping shops open if there is no sales. If this situation continues in the long term, it will be a challenge to repay bank loans and pay salaries and allowances to employees," said a trader.

Islampur Cloth Merchant Association (ICMA) General secretary Naser Uddin Mollah said, "Sales have declined by more than 70%. It is essential that this situation ends quickly, or businesses will not be able to survive. This is because when sales are low, bank loans and employee salaries and benefits can put a strain on businesses."

Some customers were seen in New Market. Traders said that due to the advent of winter, some sales are taking place in children's clothing stores in New Market and Nurjahan Market. There are no sales of adult clothing outside of these, they said.

Shariful, a seller at New Market's Fashion Collection store, said, "Customers cannot come when there is a blockade. Sales fall by 60-70%. But when there is no blockade, there is a lot of crowd in the children's winter clothing stores."

A showroom named "Sara" is located on the ground floor of Bashundhara City Shopping Complex. This brand usually sees a lot of sales of winter clothes during the light winter season. However, during the blockade the showroom was empty of customers.

The manager of the showroom, Tariqul Islam, said, "Our sales have fallen by almost 70% compared to before the blockade. Very few customers are coming to the market."

Senior sales representative Mehedi Hasan of Gentle Park at Bashundhara City Shopping Complex said, "Our sales have fallen by 60%." 

Similar dull situation of sales was found at Metro Shopping Mall. Neel Anchal Sharees Manager Mohammad Faruque Ahmed said sales have decreased by 75% due to the blockade programme. "There are eight employees in our shop. We are all sitting idle as there are no customers," he said.

Traders say the sale of clothes has been declining for several months due to the high prices of all kinds of food and daily necessities in the market. But the strike and blockade programmes have aggravated the situation, they say.