The Eid shopping spree in the city is gaining momentum despite the high prices of clothes, shoes and other auxiliaries. With just a few days left before Eidul Fitr, all roads in the city are leading to shops and markets and although the rising inflation and the devaluation of the rupee has badly affected shopkeepers, people are not left with much of a choice.
City bazaars and shopping malls are full of visitors and the influx of people is increasing with every passing day, however shopping trends have not seemed to increase. Vendors stated the loss of the buyers’ purchasing power as a detrimental factor of low sales.
Shopkeepers and traders termed this market decline the result of inconsistent government policies which had kept businesses unstable. They said that Eid customers had turned to Chinese and smuggled goods which cost lesser than their local counterparts.
“Chinese and smuggled shoes and jeans are the main focus of the people coming to the markets for Eid shopping,” Shahzad, a belt vendor who runs a stall outside Mall Road’s Panorama Shopping Centre, said.
Despite loss in his sales in contrast to the previous year, he pointed out that people were shopping from stalls rather than going to the bigger shops.
He said that he hired the services of three boys to assist him at his stall the previous year in contrast to just one helper this year.
The bigger markets like Liberty, The Mall, shopping malls in posh areas including Defence, Model Town and Askari-XI observed no difference in contrast to previous years as the elite-class shopped according to their requirements.
Meanwhile, the markets of middle and lower middleclass buyers were observed with much zeal and most clients did their shopping from stalls and vendors in Ichhra Bazaar, Islampura, Shahdman, Kareem Block in Iqbal Town, Ravi Road, Anarkali and Shah Alami.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Muhammad Azam, a citizen said “There is high inflation due to which I could purchase only one suit for my wife and one for my five-year-old son, while I myself will have to suffice with old clothes”.
Azam said he was surprised to see the prices and it was not possible for his family to do their routing shopping
Applying ‘mehndi’ is very common among women but this year’s high rates disappointed many young girls and women. A seven-year-old girl, Nadia, was very happy after applying mehndi on her hands but her mother was quarrelling with the vendor in Islampura bazaar.
After visiting different bazaars, it was observed that inflation had badly affected the market as well as the buyers who had no choice but to resort to B-category shopping.
