Anticipating another shutdown, customers throng jewel emporiums

“We had to postpone our daughter’s wedding, as we couldn’t buy jewels during the lockdown. But with many medical experts warn about the third wave of the pandemic, we are worried if the government announces another lockdown in a few weeks. So we gave order for ornaments which is expected to be ready in three to five days,” said Uma Devi N, a resident of Madipakkam, who came for shopping at T Nagar.

As many of the Jewellery stores in the city received a large number of people after two months of lockdown, the store managements are relieved that they would be able to pay salaries for their staff.

“On the first day, there was almost double the number of customers that we had in April when COVID cases were increasing. Many people wanted to buy jewellery ahead of the wedding season in July-August. Some who got married but could not buy jewellery because of the lockdown also came to buy ornaments. There were also persons who either wanted to pledge their gold or take it back. We are glad that there is business again,” said Virendra Kumar, a jeweler at Elephant Gate.

Meanwhile, owners of some of the stores that did not receive much crowd on the first two days, like Biju Chirayath of Kerala Jewellery in Pondy Bazaar, said that they were expecting the crowd to increase during the weekend.