For Bangabazar, New Super Market traders, sales yet to peak before Eid

While most of the markets in the capital have been receiving an increasing number of customers during Ramadan, owners of the shops in Bangabazar and New Super Market that were gutted in recent fires have no hope of regaining sales momentum before the Eid.

Traders at Bangabazar, which was gutted in fire on 4 April, have resumed business under the open sky, but very few customers have been visiting their shops. The market that used to be full of wholesale buyers and general shoppers ahead of Eid has become almost lifeless.

The situation was the same in New Super Market which was damaged in a fire on 15 April. A number of traders there resumed their businesses a couple of days ago, but it was formally reopened yesterday. Many traders there were still repairing their shops.

Mohammad Helal Uddin, president of Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity, told TBS, "The traders in Bangabazar and New Super Market have suffered about Tk1,000 crore loss. The government has given some compensation to the traders of Bangabazar. The affected businessmen of New Super Market are being listed. I will discuss this issue with them after Eid."

Extremely low sales at Bangabazar

Zahirul Islam, general secretary of Bangabazar Complex Shop Owners Association, told TBS, "We mainly sell products in bulk at a wholesale rate. Fire gutted all the traders' products here this Eid season.

"Those who resumed selling products in makeshift shops in the field are getting a small number of customers due to the scorching heat."

Shahidul Islam, owner of FNF Garments, lost products worth Tk20 lakh in four shops in Bangabazar. He said, "Last year our sales amounted to Tk2-3 lakh per day at this time. However, today (Wednesday) my sales amounted to only Tk200 since morning. Yesterday it was Tk600 in the whole day."

A report of the investigation committee formed by the Dhaka South City Corporation said the fire at Bangabazar damaged 3,845 shops, causing a loss amounting to Tk303 crore.

Almost no customer at New Super Market

Traders at New Super Market said they reopened their shops yesterday after the power supply was restored, but customers were very rare there. Those who were visiting the shops were offering very low prices for the products.

Most of the traders in the market acquired new products on the occasion of Eid. Sales started gaining momentum, but the fire changed everything.

Mohammad Shanto, a salesman at V Wear, told TBS yesterday, "During this time in last Ramadan, our sales amounted to about Tk2 lakh per day, but today there are almost no buyers."

Al Imran, another shop owner on the third floor of the market, said, "Last Friday, I sold jeans worth Tk1.30 lakh. All of that money was gutted in the fire. Moreover, there were goods worth Tk25 lakh inside the shop. I could not bring out even a single thread.

"It would be great if the government quickly repaired our damaged shops and gave us some money to buy new products.

Mohammad Maruf Hossain, the convener of New Super Market Owners' Association, told The Business Standard, "About 226 shops on the 2nd and 3rd floors were burnt. The blaze ruined furniture and decorations worth around Tk300-350 crore and goods worth Tk100-150 crore."

He said, there are about 1,225 shops in the market. If each of those shops had sales amounting to Tk50,000 per day on an average, the total sales would have crossed Tk6 crore before Eid.