Floods wash away shoppers

KARACHI: If Ramazan is associated with iftar feasts, it is equally marked by the preparations for Eid ending the month of fasting. While shopping malls are crowded with customers of all ages, tailors are on cloud nine with demand exceeding their capacity during Ramazan.

But this year one does not see the usual spirit of celebration among people. At a random visit to a shopping mall located at Tariq Road only a handful of people were spotted shopping for Eid. While floods have destroyed the lives of millions of Pakistanis, they have also saddened the hearts of people who were not directly affected by the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history. Nusrat, a lady in her thirties, said, “We are here shopping for other people and not for ourselves. The reason is that you see the suffering of so many people who have become homeless due to the flooding and so we are planning not to celebrate Eid this year.”

Even with prices slashed down and discounts of up to 50 percent being given, there are still not many customers.

Raj, a representative at the outlet of the clothing brand Crossroads, said, “Our Eid collection has just partially arrived and our latest product remains the fall collection. Though we have slashed the prices down, people are hardly visiting the mall.”

Zulquarnain of Anchal, a ladies’ ready-to-wear collection with prices ranging from Rs1,200 to Rs4,000 said, “These days there are very few people in the market who come to shop.”

Javed Hussain of The Shop, which displays ladies’ ready-to-wear collection with an average price between Rs3,000 and Rs7,000, said the same thing, “There are less people in shopping centres and customers started visiting only two days ago, before that the mall was almost completely deserted.”

However, not everyone is experiencing this trend. For Rehan Shah of RK Style, another shop located in the mall, sales are continuing as normal. “Things are going smoothly. We only have imported shirts and imported pants, but we have discounted our line for the Eid season,” said Shah.

Despite many thinking that this Ramazan is not very lucrative for their business, sellers continue to introduce exclusive product offerings for Eid. According to the sales representative of Fnk Asia, the fashion brand has featured “ladies frock-style shirts starting from Rs2,950 ending at Rs6,000” as a part of their Eid collection. With colourful shades on cotton fabric, the collection is accessorised with different kinds of bangles.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th,