Sales of clothes go up as Eid approaches

With one day left for Eid-ul-Azha, the sale of readymade garments have increased manifolds in the city’s markets where buyers are coming in a large number to buy dresses for families to celebrate this festival with religious enthusiasm.

In spite of heavy financial burden of sacrificial animals, people along with their families, from Peshawar and adjoining districts, were seen in a large number at readymade garments’ shops on University Road and Cantonment for Eid shopping.

Shopkeepers and retailers besides traders in famous shopping centres like CT Towers, Jan Arcade and Deans Trade Centre in Cantonment has brought a variety of local and foreign readymade garments as an Eid special offer.

The demand for readymade garments and other wearable is proving to be a great profit for the retailers and shopkeepers dealing with garments this year, due to improvement of law order situation in Peshawar. However, the consumers complained about high prices of readymade garments, especially for children and women, and demanded strict action against price hikers.

A resident of Nowshera, Khurshid Alam busy in shopping for Eid on University Road’s market told APP on Wednesday that he has bought a readymade suit for himself for Rs 2,500. The same suit was available for Rs 2,200 last year.

“The readymade suit is comparatively low cost as compared to unstitched garments since one gets to be free from tailor’s charges,” he added. However, he said 20 to 30 per cent increase in readymade suits have been registered this year in local markets due to lukewarm attention of the PTI government towards the garments industry.

He demanded strict action against shopkeepers and retailers selling garments on higher prices.

The shopkeepers however linked the increase in rates of ready-made shalwar kameez suits to the rising prices of cloth which they procured mainly from Faisalabad and Karachi textile mills. Apart from this labour, transportation cost and stitching charges are also increased. Tailors have charged Rs 800 per suit this year against Rs 700 last year, they added.

The sale of ladies and children garments has also registered upward increase in City markets and one kid suit is being sold for Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,200.

Owing to high increase in prices of ladies and children suits, majority of buyers with low income groups prefer China-made fine cloth as they are comparably cheaper than foreign made clothes.

Low income people are also being seen in sufficient number at second-hand cloth markets for their requirements, owing to the high prices of new readymade garments.