Sylhet Bureau :
Shoppers are flocking to different shopping malls and markets in Sylhet to buy new dresses, shoes and accessories for families and friends as the biggest Muslim festival Eid-ul-Fitr is knocking at the doors.
The huge turnout of shoppers brings a smile to the shop owners and sellers at Al Hamra Shopping City, Hasan Market and its adjacent markets, shopping destinations at Zindabazar, Blue Water Shopping City, SylhetPalaza and other places after two years of Covid fallout.
Covid-19 restrictions and people’s shrinking purchase ability largely affected the overall business during festivals in the past two years.
However, shopping for Eid has started in full swing this year bringing hope to traders to make up for the losses, shop owners from different markets told.
Maha is a popular destination in the city for sari lovers. Some of the popular shops in this area, namely, Lilabali, Manerakho, Sari Shamvar, BenarashiKutir, Benarashi Museum, among others, have displayed their new collections ahead of Eid.
At this moment, shoppers are looking for different types of local saris, namely, katan, gadowal, ikkat, tashar, motka and others. The price starts from Tk 2,000.
Mohammad Selim Mia, the proprietor of Nilanjona Sari Bitan, told that this year’s sales were good and they were hoping for more customers in the final week of Ramadan.
Teacher Abdur Rahman said she came to Maha for shopping as this place has a lot of shops that offer a variety of sari for every budget. ‘My personal choice is a local sari that is comfortable and budget-friendly.’
Rofiqul Islam, who sells baby clothes on the footpath opposite Dhaka College, told they were experiencing a huge crowd this year. ‘Our sales were very low in the past two years. We are hoping to make a good margin this year,’ he said.
Al Hamra Shopping City is one of the popular destinations for Sylhet people to shop for Eid. Different local brands namely, Aarong, Yellow, SaRa, Infinity Mall, Plus Point, Gentle Park, Deshi Dosh and others are entertaining a huge number of customers daily.
Tabassum, a salesperson at Deshi Dosh told, ‘Most of the shoppers show interest in local brands and locally made products. Right now, demands for panjabi, sari and salwar-kamij are on the high.’
Private bank employee ZiaurRahaman, who came to Blue Water Shopping City to shop for her family, said she came to Basundhara as everything was available under the same roof.
For the family and myself, I prefer to shop from local brands because they use local resources and understand our taste,’ she said.
Meanwhile, jewellers are receiving comparatively fewer customers due to high prices.
Selim Chowdhury, a salesperson at a jewellery store, said traditionally Eid is a good business session for the gold shops.
‘We could not do well due to Covid in the past two years. We were expecting to cover some of the losses. However, due to the high gold price, many customers are showing no interest in gold,’ he said.
Different men’s clothes stores situated in the SylhetNayasorok are also serving shoppers who are looking for new clothes. However, shoe sales is expected to peak only in the last week before Eid.
Sumon Islam, a salesperson at a clothing store said, ‘Right now, shoppers are looking for punjabi, shirts, jeans and accessories. Demand is high and the sales are great compared to the past two years.’
Shoe stores in this area are popular destinations as they cater to people with all budget ranges. Rakhi Shoes, Bata, Bay Emporium, Apex and other brands are gearing up for the final week’s sales before Eid.
‘So far we have done moderate business in the first three weeks of Ramadan. We are hoping to do good business in the last week, as people tend to buy shoes during their last hour of shopping,’ said a seller.
