Eid shopping gains momentum in Ctg

With only a handful of days left before Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the country’s majority Muslim community, Eid shopping has gained momentum in Chattogram as hundreds of buyers are thronging the showrooms of top fashion brands and markets of the port city.

Though the number of buyers remains less during the day, the sales increase after evening. Affluent customers are shopping in the air-conditioned showrooms of different top fashion houses while an increasing number of people from middle and lower-income groups are thronging different apparel markets and roadside shops.

A lot of shoppers were seen on Saturday at the clothing shops of New Market, GEC, Agrabad Bahaddarhat, Number Two Gate, Chowkbazar, Teribazar, Rayazuddin Bazar, Jahoor Hawkers Market, VIP Tower, Amin Centre, UNESCO Centre, Central Plaza, Sanmar Ocean City Shopping Complex, Finlay Square, Afmi Plaza And in Mimi Super Market in Chattogram.

Especially Arong's showroom in the Number Two Gate in the city saw a rush of buyers since morning. A salesperson of Arang said, “All our showrooms are selling well. People are coming to get the clothes of their choice. After evening, the pressure of customers increases a lot. As there are more cotton fabrics here, there are more customers.”

Once popular as a wholesale market, Teribazar has now become the address of elite buyers of the port city. Latest designs of expensive clothes from home and abroad are found here. Almost all the showrooms in Teribazar, including Megamart, Vinay Fashion, Mone Rekho, Ajmer Shopping Centre, Rajpari, Rajmukut, Mayabi Shopping Mall, Sana Fashion Mall, Masum Cloth Store, New Rajpari, Salim Punjabi, Rajkumari Shopping Mall, Rajasthan, RX Shoes, Parashmani, Gulshan Saree Museum, and Alamgir Brothers, witnessed an overflowing crowd.

Similarly, the two showrooms of Khadi Ghar and Khadi Mahal at Kotwali intersection of the city were full of crowd.

Ahnaf Chowdhury, a sixth grade student who came to Khadi Mahal with his uncle to buy punjabi, told The Business Post, “I like simple work on punjabi with one color fabric. My uncle has bought me such a punjabi. Thousands of punjabis are displayed here, buyers can buy as they wish.”

In the markets of the port city, buyers are giving more importance to cotton clothes due to the ongoing heat wave. They said that the price of clothes is higher than previous years as the sellers are trying to make up the losses inflicted by the Covid pandemic during last two years.

The number of buyers has started to increase in the big shoe showrooms also. The salesmen of these showrooms said that the sale of shoes gets momentum during the last days before the Eid as everyone comes to buy shoes after buying clothes. In the coming days, sales will increase more.

General Secretary of Teribazar Traders Association Ahmad Hoshain said, “The number of shops in 110 markets in Teribazar is about 3,000. Besides the local ones, the traders have brought clothes from India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Dubai and Thailand for Eid. The mega shops have invested above Tk 1 crore while the small shops have invested Tk 20-50 lakh.”