Dhanteras fails to lift spirits of city traders

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 17 

Even Dhanteras, which is considered auspicious day for buying gold and utensils, failed to uplift the traders’ spirits. They rued lower sales compared with the last year and attributed the decline in business to GST and demonetisation.

Traders said they recorded about 30 to 50 per cent lesser sales than the last year. Shop owners said customers were there, but they did not buy in bulk. They preferred buying little for the sake of ritual and shopping on the festive occasion.

“Jewellery sale this Dhanteras was about 50 per cent less than the last year. GST and demonetisation are the apparent reasons. We had hoped for better sales but ended up disappointed,” said Vinod Talwar, president of the Jewellers’ Association of Chandigarh.

Electronics dealers were also a worried lot. 

Surender Singh Baijee, owner of Surendra Radios in Sector 35, said, “There was around 80 per cent fall in our electronics sales this year. We had expected a better response. Even those selling other products are worrisome.”

Dhanteras is mostly associated with buying utensils, but crockery stores too lamented poor sales. “We saw 30 to 40 per cent decline in sales this year. People are coming but they are buying an item or two,” added Sushil Kumar, owner of Bharat Distributors in Sector 35.

This year, the number of tents erected outside shops was also comparatively less.