Like every year, meteoric increase in the prices of clothing has forced the people to head to ‘Lunda bazaars’ in the city to search for warm clothes as winter sets in. Naulakha Market, Nicolson Road, Ichra, Shahdra and other sale points are attracting many customers who are on a hunt for sweaters, jackets and coats. “We are importing clothes from Europe, USA, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Thailand and our sales are going up,” Abid, a dealer, said on Wednesday. Buyers said high prices of new clothes in all the major markets had forced them to go for secondhand items.Many among them belonged to middle income groups.
“It is very difficult for a common man to buy a new jacket or a sweater in the prevailing circumstances when the daily income is around Rs 200 to 300 only and the price of a jacket is in thousands,” said Ejaz Asghar, a labourer at Ichra Market, Some buyers at the market said it was not just the price but the quality as well that attracted them to ‘imported items’. They said that jackets and jerseys are durable and comfortable, more so than new items available in the markets. “Last year, I bought a new jacket from a well-known outlet at a very high price. It, however, lost its shine within a few days. Then I bought a jacket from the Lunda Bazaar for Rs 250 only and it is still in the same condition”, Imran said. Sania, a housewife and mother of two kids, said that Lunda Bazaars were a blessing, adding, “I can get fancy stuff for all my kids without going bankrupt”.
