75% drop in sale of furniture in Rohtak

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, July 5

The Covid pandemic has hit the local furniture industry hard, as it has seen a drop of 75 per cent in the sales ever since the lockdown was imposed.

They say the scare of Covid, closure of educational institutes and restrictions on the number of guests on weddings are responsible for the state of affairs. They fear the situation will remain the same for three to four months.

“More than 60 customers used to visit my showroom every day before the lockdown. Now, the number has reduced to 15 to 20. Only those who are in need of furniture visit the showroom. I always had advanced bookings in April, May and June because of weddings, but the Covid has played a spoilsport,” said Chander Prakash, a furniture trader.

He further said, “Usually in July, chairs, desks and computer tables were supplied to colleges, universities, and coaching and computer centres. This time, there have been no orders as all institutes are closed.”

Devi Singh, another furniture trader, pointed out other aspect of the situation: rising input cost. “The price of wood and other items have increased by 15 to 20 per cent. The rising input cost is also making customers put off their plans to buy furniture,” he said.

For workers, the situation has been precarious. Ajay, who works on daily wages, said: “By the grace of God, I always had work in the past 10 years. Furniture traders used to approach me to get fancy items made. But now, the situation has taken an about-turn. Now, I make rounds of furniture shops in search of work.”

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