Out of towners making a profit in Peshawar

Printers from Faisalabad arrive in hordes to sell election-related material

PESHAWAR:

With local government elections around the corner, business is booming in the provincial capital for local printers. In fact, the potential to make a quick profit has even brought in Faisalabad’s Aminpur Bazaar printers who are setting up their stalls in Mohallah Jangi.

From political party flags, promotional stickers to caps and election symbols; the stalls have it all for supporters and candidates as they prepare for polling day on May 30.

From out of town

“This is my first visit to Peshawar,” says Mohammad Javed, whose stall is outside a bookshop selling Islamic literature in the narrow lane of Mohallah Jangi.

Javed and his brother Mohammad Sohail own a shop at Aminpur Bazaar in Faisalabad and have come with stocks of publicity material to sell in Peshawar. The vendors rented rooms in the nearby hotels of Khyber Bazaar where they stay the night after wrapping up their stalls at about 9pm.

Javed and other businessmen are making sales worth Rs10,000 per stall on a daily basis and they pay Rs500 to Rs900 to shopowners who allow them to park their wares.

This has also created an opportunity for Jangi’s Islamic books sellers to make up for some of their losses as the election-related chaos has badly affected their business in the narrow lanes. Qari owns one such shop and has rented the front portion to a visiting businessman for Rs500 a day.

The vendors ask for more supply from Faisalabad when they run out of stock. Javed has got three consignments from Aminpur Bazaar during his 20-day stay.

“We have been here in the market for the past three weeks and business increased after the candidates were issued election symbols,” says Mohammad Arshad who is accompanied by his son Mohammad Usman.

Preparing for polls

They pay Rs400 per day for a hotel room and the same amount for daily sustenance; the rest is all profit. “Business is decreasing as polling day nears. The most sales were made during the first five days when the election symbols were allotted.”

He is planning to leave for home on May 29—a day before Peshawar, and the rest of K-P, goes to the vote.

Earlier, a few of the vendors came to Peshawar when invited by their friends in Mohallah Jangi and others followed them. Majority of them are visiting the provincial capital for the first time as local government polls are only taking place in K-P. The vendors are happy with the timing and the chance to make some money.

The sale of publicity material for independent candidates is also quite high compared to political parties.

In bad taste?

Najaf Shahzad, another vendor from Faisalabad, finds Peshawar to be a beautiful city full of good people. However, the local cuisine leaves much to be desired in their opinion. “This city is cool,” he says. “The people are loving and hospitable, but the food lacks spice and chilli wherever you go,” says Najaf. “The cooks use an excessive amount of tomatoes, but don’t use spices even if you request it.”

The heat is on

As their number has increased in Mohallah Jangi, the competition has also intensified and profit margins have slashed. “First we would sell a packet of stickers at Rs80 per piece, but now the price is Rs50 and the actual cost is Rs45,” he said. However, everyone has made a profit in, according to him.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2015.