Pahela Baishakh sales crash to a halt for clothing brands
It's all colourful.
A poster with models donning red panjabi and saree pasted at one side of the entrance, while the national flag hangs on the side wall and a mannequin displays clothes in other side. In the middle, a guard stands ready to push the door open for you.
Welcome to Kay Kraft, a popular local fashion boutique.
Inside, clothes with motifs and colours are all around and sales persons are waiting to greet customers to show off their latest collections, prepared with one eye on the first day of Baishakh, the first month of the Bangla new year.
The biggest cultural festival of the nation is one of the major sales seasons for fashion houses that work with hundreds of thousands of local artisans, weavers and micro businesses across the country to make traditional dresses like salwar kameez, panjabi and saree.
The festival yields Tk 2,000 crore in sales last year, according to fashion entrepreneurs. This year, indiscriminate spread of the novel coronavirus and the rising number of deaths linked to the disease are shattering their aspiration to make bounty.
Since Bangladesh reported the maiden cases of coronavirus infection on March 8, panic has spread and apparel sellers have become one of the early victims.
Sales dipped by roughly 50 per cent as shopping malls and stores selling clothes, footwear and electronics got a barren look as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus is increasing every day.
Besides, people have made a mad dash for the kitchen markets and supermarket to stock foodstuffs, hand sanitisers and other essentials as part of their preparation to stay home should the capital city or the country comes under lock down of any form.
Until yesterday, the total number of confirmed cases of infections rose to 27, with two deaths and five recovered.
Globally, the death toll until 5:30pm yesterday stood at 13,049 and 307,341 were detected with the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University in the US. The virus has spread to 171 countries since the first cases cropped up in China in December.
"People are not in a festive mood at all," said Md Monir Hossain, shop manager of Kay Kraft branch at Sobhanbag on Mirpur road, on Saturday.
Until 3.30pm, the showroom received only three customers and logged in Tk 6,000 in sales.
"This is a very low figure. In normal times, we would have received a good number of customers on Fridays and Saturdays than in other days of the week. This time the situation is different," he said.
Some yards away is located another popular fashion boutique house Anjans and its sales persons did not see a single customer until 12.30pm despite opening the doors at 10am.
"We don't know what we should do now. Clothing sales have been declining and the extent of the slump is increasing daily," said Shaheen Ahmmed, president of the Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh (FEAB).
Entrepreneurs say most fashion houses have almost completed their preparation targeting Pahela Baishakh before the coronavirus hit the nation.
Some of them have even bought fabrics and other raw materials to make dresses for Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest sales season for domestic market-oriented businesses.
Baishakh and Eid together generate about Tk 6,000 crore in sales for businesses that work with locally weaved fabrics, said Ahmmed, also the proprietor of Anjan's.
Now, the coronavirus crisis is looming over inventory build-ups and has had ripple effects on the supply chain.
The value of ready stock for Baishakh would be Tk 1,200 crore, according to Ahmmed.
There are more than 1,000 small and medium business that make clothes with local fabrics, according to the FIAB, which has 100 members.
A large number of people -- weavers, traditional dyers and artisan -- are dependent on the sector. The number of people employed in the sector is much higher.
"We are yet to take any decision on what to do and what not to do. We have faced fluctuations in sales for short periods of time during floods and cyclones, but this is an entirely new situation that we have never experienced before and we do not know when it will come to an end," Ahmmed said.
All fashion houses, however, have windows to sell online.
"But, would people be in the mood to celebrate the festival? None have the peace of mind, not only in Bangladesh but also across the globe," Ahmmed said.
It remains unclear when the crisis will be over, said Azharul Haque Azad, managing director of Sadakalo, another boutique house.
A large portion of the clothes made for Baishakh festival might remain unsold unless the situation improves soon.
Outfits for the Bangla new year celebration are made with certain motifs and it is very difficult to sell them during rest of the year.
"The concern is, when will this inventory sell out? And this will affect artisans, weavers and others as I will not make new clothes," Azad added.
Aarong, the country's biggest fashion and lifestyle retail chain, unveiled its Baishakh collections on March 13.
"Daily sales have halved. Customer turnout has dropped drastically," said Mohammad Ashraful Alam, chief operating officer of Aarong.
The fashion retail, a social enterprise of Brac, supports 65,000 artisans, including 600 micro and small businesses.
"We will be working on so that we can ensure their livelihood. Right now, we are focusing on raising awareness, ensuring safety and security for customers and sales persons to prevent and control the virus," he said.
Ahmmed also has similar feelings.
"Sales are no longer a major concern for us at the moment. It will be good for everyone as soon as the situation turns for the better. The crisis will slow the progress of the nation," he said, adding that it would be difficult for many to continue to pay salaries to staff if the pandemic prolongs.
Hossain of Kay Kraft, however, is yet to give up. "We are giving more time to customers. Still, we have time. If the disease can be controlled and the situation improves, sales may bounce back."
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