Manav Mander
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, June 3
National Road near Bhai Bala Chowk remains one of the busiest stretch in the city throughout the year as showrooms, which sell branded clothes, bags, watches, shoes and some departmental stores, are located on it.
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On normal days, the road is jam packed, but it is less crowded even after relaxation in the lockdown. The footfall of customers has gone down as shops do not sell essential commodities.
People avoid coming out of their houses. They are taking all precautions. They visit only those stores, which deal in essential goods. The Covid-induced lockdown has affected our business adversely. Let’s see what is in store in the coming days. — Tejpal Singh, Owner, Oberoi Time
Sohit Jain, owner of Bandini, women clothing store, said, “Customers are turning up slowly for shopping.”
“The footfall of customers has gone down to 50 per cent. Since the season started amidst the lockdown so people are coming to buy essential summer clothing. I am hopeful that in the coming 10 days the footfall will increase and people will start coming out,” added Jain.
For Tejpal Singh from Oberoi Time, dealing in watches, customer footfall has not yet picked up. “Ours is not an essential commodity. As no functions and ceremonies are being held these days only 25 per cent customers come to the store,” said Tejpal.
“People avoid coming out of their houses. They are taking all precautions. They visit only those stores, which deal in essential goods. The Covid-induced lockdown has affected our business adversely. Let’s see what is in store in the coming days,” Tejpal added.
Rahul Aggarwal from Rahul’s, dealing in designer wear clothing for women, said, “The customer footfall has gone down to 30 per cent. The best part is that these days, only genuine customers are coming. There is no window shopping. Earlier, some customers used to visit the store just to have a look at designs. Now, no such customer comes. If any customer comes to the store, she/he is the one, who is here for buying and not just looking for designs.”
“Business will pick up once the things normalise and functions and parties are organised,” Rahul added.
A shopkeeper, who own departmental store, said, “Customers coming to my shop are almost normal. The only difference is that customers now prefer to buy the grocery stuff in bulk. Instead of coming after a week or 15 days to buy essentials, residents shop a month’s grocery as they want to avoid coming out or visiting public places.”
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