As winter sets in, hordes of people, rich and poor, are seen bargaining with retailers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where woolly heaps of quilts, bed covers, blankets and rugs are up for sale.
Vendors and shopkeepers in the cities experienced a hike in sales.
All kinds of winter wear and accessories including gloves, woollen hats, mufflers, pullovers, sweatshirts and jackets were seen displayed in front of stalls, shops and weekly bazaars, to attract customers.
Stalls of winter clothes and shoes could be seen at Aabpara Market, Melody Market, Super Market, Jinnah Super Market, Sittara Market, Peshawar Morr, Karachi Company, Faizabad, Commercial Market, Sadiqabad Chowk, Raja Bazaar and in many other big shopping malls and markets in the twin cities.
Many customers however, complained that second-hand clothes had also become expensive. Prices of used clothes had been spiralling every year, commented a customer at a weekly bazaar.
A second-hand clothes dealer said that they had bought those clothes at exorbitant rates from wholesale dealers in Lahore and Karachi and had been forced to sell them accordingly.
Kashif Khan, a clothes-dealer at Super Market, said, “Our business is going very well these days as the demand for winter clothes has risen considerably.”
He said that sales had doubled and they were expecting even more revenue in the days ahead. Varieties of clothing and accessories like gloves, woollen hats, mufflers, pullovers, sweat shirts, and jackets could be seen hanging in front of shops and booths in weekly bazaars.
“Customers however have become more selective in their purchases. They not only select clothes which had the best quality, but also try to buy them at throw away prices,” said Shahid Ali, a salesman in Aabpara.
He said that some people even tried to bargain at fixed price shops. There were also many who thronged to weekly bazaars to find clothes that were both utilitarian and comparatively cheaper.
Qasim Raza, a customer at the G-6 weekly bazaar, said, “These bazaars offer cheap and inexpensive clothes, because prices of new winter clothing are out of our reach. We rush to these second-hand clothes’ stalls where we get decent quality clothes at affordable rates.”
