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Starting of the vacation four or five days before the Eid has incurred huge losses for the footpath vendors as majority of the city dwellers are busy leaving the capital for their ancestral villages to celebrate thee Eid festival.
Only a handful of days are left before the Eid, but sales at numerous street shops in Dhaka reduced drastically on Wednesday as thousands of city dwellers embarked on homebound journey leaving the capital. The ongoing heat-wave added insult to injury, forcing the remaining city dwellers to stay inside home.
As the government declared Thursday also as Eid holiday, the mass exodus started from Tuesday night because Wednesday also was a public holiday on the occasion of Shab-e-qadr.
Most of the areas in the capital have become almost empty except for a few areas. Those who are not in a hurry to go to their ancestral villages are also not going out due to the unbearable heat.
In such a situation, the sales in the footpath shops have completely decreased. Although the roadside vendors in front of the big markets got some customers, the sales in the footpath shops in various areas including Motijheel, Gulistan, Baitul Mokaram, Malibagh, Farmgate and Mahakhali have decreased by 70-80 per cent compared to previous days, the sellers said.
They said people are thinking more about going home than shopping; those who are still in Dhaka are not going out for shopping on the footpath because of the hot sun. If necessary, they are going to the markets and buying in a short time.
On the occasion of Eid in the capital, the roadside vendors are selling ready-made shirts, pants, pajama-panjabi, hats, shoes and socks in addition to atar, tasbi, dates, polao rice, semai and spices. Sales of household furniture, home decoration accessories, bangles and imitation jewelries also increase before the Eid. Besides, temporary iftar items are also sold on the roadside.
Most of the buyers of these shops are the officers and employees of the surrounding offices, people from low and middle-income groups. In addition, people who come to the capital for various reasons are also buyers of these shops.
Many hawkers at different areas of the capital did not start selling even in the afternoon on Wednesday, although they usually open the shops in the morning. Those who started did not sell much.
At 2pm, Bangabandhu Avenue in Motijheel and Gulistan, along with the sidewalks in front of Dhaka Trade Centre, many footpath traders were seen bringing goods to start selling. In some areas including Baitul Mokaram, the sellers did not get many customers even though the shops were open from morning.
Vendors said sales have dropped by 70-80 per cent in a single day compared to previous days.
Md Arif, a shirt seller in Motijheel, said that mainly people returning from office shop in this area. Customers are rare as the banks and offices are closed. “So, we don’t have Eid sales. The holidays started right around the time of our Eid sale. There will be no more business before Eid,” he said.
Al Amin was selling hats sitting in front of Pir-Yamini Market at Bangabandha Avenue. He said, “Many of those who come to the market for Eid shopping also buy hats. Those who go to village homes and officials of nearby government offices are our main customers. There are very few buyers in the main market now as it is a public holiday, and our sales have naturally decreased.”
Shoe shops at footpath in front of Gausia and Noor Mansion Markets and under the adjacent foot over bridge were also less crowded yesterday.
Seller Shajedul Alam said, “It is not very difficult for the people of the southern region to go home because of the Padma Bridge. On top of that there is a 4-5 days holiday. All in all, most of the people have gone to the villages. As a result, our sales have decreased significantly.”
He said that no one comes to buy products from the footpath in this area; they come to the market to shop and buy something from the footpath while going. But now there are fewer buyers in the market too.
