Home ›› 26 Dec 2021 ›› Nation
The sale of warm clothes has gained momentum in Rangpur as mercury has plummeted across the region with the wintry chill intensifying over the last few days.
The traders of warm clothes have been doing brisk business at makeshift footpath shops as well as the city’s big shopping malls as winter has arrived early in the northern region this year.
The makeshift shops have mushroomed on the footpath at Surovi Udyan gate area near Rangpur Girls’ High School, Payra Chattar, Station, Lalbag, and CO Bazar.
The sale of warm clothes at Salek Market, Jamal Market, Jahaz Company Shopping Complex, Super Market, Zilla Parishad Market, City Plaza, Betpatti Market, and Moti Plaza is also gaining pace.
People from the low- and fixed-income groups are crowding footpath shops to buy second-hand warm clothes, such as wrappers, woollen sweaters, blankets, coats, and cardigans.
Prices of the warm clothes vary according to the quality, the shoppers said, adding that prices of warm clothes are higher this year compared to that of previous years.
Traders and shoppers said prices of warm clothes are 20 to 30 per cent higher than last year and would increase further with the intensifying of the cold wave.
A wrapper is selling at Tk 100 to Tk 150, a blanket at Tk 300 to Tk 400, a sweater at Tk 100 to Tk 150, a coat at Tk 300 to Tk 400, a cardigan at Tk 150 to Tk 200, and children clothes at Tk 100 to Tk 150 at the makeshift shops, said Tipu Sultan, owner of a warm cloth shop at Railway Crossing market.
Nazrul Islam, the owner of a garments shop at Super Market, said prices of foreign blankets were within the range of Tk 1,500 to Tk 5,000, comparatively high than the previous year.
Prices of sweaters range between Tk 400 and Tk 800, jeans jackets between Tk 800 and Tk 1000, woollen caps between Tk 150 and Tk 200, and hand gloves between Tk 100 and Tk 150 in the market, he added.
Poor people, the worst victims of the biting cold, find it hard to buy warm clothes at higher prices.
The people from low- and fixed-income groups are crowding the makeshift shops to buy warm clothes, such as sweaters, jackets, cardigans, woollen caps, and mufflers to protect them from cold.
Delowar Hossain, the owner of a shop at a roadside makeshift market near the railway station, said the low- and fixed-income groups, including day labourers, rickshaw pullers and employees of different government and private organisations, are crowding the warm clothes shop.
“I have sold some second-hand warm clothes. The demand for used warm clothes is much higher than the new ones,” he added.
Abdur Rahman, a sharecropper living in a makeshift house on the bank of the Teesta River in Gongachara upazila, said, “We have been facing extremely bitter cold for the last few days. So, I came to town to buy some second-hand warm clothes for my family members with the money I saved from my daily income.”
The price of clothes is higher than last year, he added.
Sadeq Hossain, the owner of a shop at Salek Hawker Market of the city, said buyers, mostly from low-paid groups, have been flocking to his shop for the last few days.
Nuru Miah, a rickshaw puller, said he had bought three woollen sweaters for his children from a footpath shop near Kachari Bazar.
The quality of the clothes is good and they still look fresh and comfortable to wear, he added.
Many shopkeepers at different hawker markets of the city said the demand for different items of shawls and woollen blankets is also high.
The prices of warm clothes are comparatively high this year than past years, they added.
