Shopping picks up in port city
With Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the major religious festivals of the Muslims, drawing close, shopping has gained momentum in markets in Chittagong city.
Eid shoppers are crowding into markets to buy clothes and other items for their families. All the city markets are selling commodities from morning till midnight.
As a result, traffic jam is clogging different busy roads in areas like New Market, Chawkbazar, Probortok, Andarkillah, GEC, Lalkhan Bazar crossings and Agrabad.
Talking to the BSS, Kazol Bonik, Mimi Super Market Businessmen Welfare Association's general secretary, said most of the public and private employees have started getting their salaries and festival bonuses.
But most salesmen said their sale has not even reached previous years' records although half of the Ramadan has already passed.
Shoppers complain that compared to the previous year, prices of all products have increased by 10 to 20 percent.
Last year, the daily sale after 12th Ramadan was around Tk 60,000 but this year the amount has fallen to Tk 20,000, said Ashad Iftakher, Sanmar Ocean City Businessmen Association President.
Popular Indian clothes are selling between Tk 5,000 and Tk 30,000. Both Indian and local saris are also in great demand, said Abdul Mannan, Terribazar Businessmen Association general secretary.
Different brands of local saris like Silk, Katan, Tangail and Indian Kanjilal are in great demand in local markets.
Bangalore Silk Katan, Anarkoli and Lehenga, Pakhi dresses, and Kiron Mala dresses are being sold at higher prices ranging from Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000.
Shamsun Nahar, a buyer at Sanmar Ocean City in GEC area, said the price is very high this season. "I bought a dress for TK 8,300 which should not be this much," she added.
Buyers, mostly middle-income people, were found to be window shopping. Roadside shops and small shops were found more crowded than big shopping malls.
Meanwhile, a large number of makeshift shops have been set up on city pavements marking Eid. Prices of different materials, particularly cotton, tissue, silk, and synthetic, have registered a sharp rise although the shops are almost full of various garment products.
Supply of goods, including foreign brands, in the market is abundant. Varieties of Indian clothes are also flooded at shopping centres, especially in Mimi Super Market, Terribazar and Reazuddin Bazar, Amin Center, Ocean City, Moti Tower and Chittagong Shopping Complex.
Traffic police were seen struggling to tackle the situation at those points. It has become difficult for buyers and locals to reach their destinations on time due to heavy traffic congestion, alleged people.
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