Festivity returns to Eid shopping after 2 years

Shopping on the occasion of the country's biggest religious festival Eid-ul-Fitr gained momentum on the first Friday of Ramadan as hundreds of buyers thronged shopping malls in the capital. 

All the markets and shopping complexes were so crowded with buyers in the afternoon and evening yesterday that there was no way to move comfortably in and around the markets. The shopping spree went on until late into night.

The shopkeepers said buyers prefer to shop on weekly holidays than on any other day during the month of Ramadan.

In the last two years, the shopkeepers could not sell as per their expectations due to various restrictions imposed by the government to contain the Covid pandemic. But this year, there is a lot of relief in the minds of the shopkeepers as the government has lifted all the pandemic restrictions, paving the way for satisfactory sales after a long time.

The sales are good as job holders have already got their salaries. Moreover, there is no restriction on public gathering now, said the shopkeepers.

Due to the large number of buyers, long traffic jams were created on the roads in front of different shopping centres including New Market, Chandni Chowk, Gausia Market, Noor Mansion, Chandrima Market, Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, Motaleb Plaza and Eastern Plaza. Even the pedestrians could not walk comfortably on the pavements crammed with an overwhelming number of shoppers.

Private job holder Mohammad Nayeem completed Eid shopping from Bashundhara Shopping Complex for seven members of his family. 

He said, "Even though Eid is several weeks later, I do not get any holiday except Friday. At the end of Ramadan, the shopping malls will be more crowded. So, I completed the Eid shopping a bit earlier as I have already received my salary."

Rukaiya Islam also came to Bashundhara Shopping Mall for Eid shopping with her two young sons and daughters. "I did some shopping today to avoid the heavy crowd before the Eid. But the crowd is not less even today," she said.

Mohammad Fahim, a salesman at Bashundhara Shopping Mall's Lubana Punjabi House, told The Business Standard, "Sales of Panjabi are satisfactory. Hopefully, the sales will continue to rise in the remaining days before Eid."

Suresh Rana, manager at a stall at Bashundhara Shopping Complex, said, "I hope the Eid sales will grow even more in the following weeks. Compared to last two years, the sale is satisfactory so far."

Sohail Mahmud, 50, was shopping with his wife and children at New Market. 

He said, "I will leave Dhaka for my ancestral home in Barishal after 20 Ramadan, so I am shopping for my family members and close relatives today. The price of things is a little higher this year. Since the price of daily necessities is already much higher, I had to be calculative in my shopping. Otherwise, I would have spent more money to buy Eid clothes."

Belal Hossain, owner of Quality Fashion House at New Market, told TBS, "This is the first Friday of Ramadan. Today, a lot of customers have come to the market to look for the desired product. After 15 Ramadan, the crowd as well as the sales will increase. The sales today was good."

He further said, "Yesterday, goods worth Tk70,000 were sold in my shop. Today, I hope it will be Tk1 lakh to Tk1.2 lakh. Last year, it was difficult to sell goods worth Tk30-40 thousand on this day."

Nizam Uddin, president of the Chandni Chowk Shop Owners' Association, told TBS that wholesale sales were still not that much, but it would increase further. "However, the retail sales have already gained momentum. The traders are getting a much better response this year than in the past two years, despite the price hike of all the daily essentials. Hopefully, Eid sales will be satisfactory this year," he added.