Jewelry and textile shops severely affected during the peak season sale

They said that from this week the sale used to be at the peak, as many would buy or place an order for jewels and clothes, unfortunately, they announced to close shops without any prior notice. Meanwhile, even the customers are in struggle as they cannot get their things where the orders are placed for weddings.

“When there was lockdown for almost two months, the business was dry, and once it was reopened customers thronged to purchase for weddings, and engagement fearing another lockdown. And the sales used to be quite good during Aadi month, as many people have placed orders for upcoming weddings as it is the auspicious month. As there is no prior notice by the city corporation, the shops are closed for the next 10 days, and we have been getting frequent calls from the customers to deliver their jewels, but we are unable to answer our customers,” said Anwar Ali, Senior Sales Officer, Caretlane, TNagar.

Since the last lockdown, the staff was not paid, now when there is an increase in the sale and sudden closure of shops lead them shattered. Similarly, even textile shops face a similar situation as their sale has only now increased after discounts sale was announced. They are scared whether this would be extended, and they will return to the situation without any income due to the pandemic lockdown.

“Almost after a month, the business has slowly picked up, usually, there would be crowd after Aadi discount sale announced, but this time it was dull for few days. And later, it started to increase, and from next week there would be more crowd, people used to place bulk orders but we are scared whether there won’t be any this time. We are dependent on daily salary, but we are helpless without income when the shop is closed for a week. At least, the government should help us by providing money,” said Ramesh G, Manager at A to Z dresses at Ranganathan Street.

Meanwhile, the public is also worried as it is an auspicious time to purchase gold and clothes for the weddings after two weeks. They are scared if the lockdown would be extended when the cases start increasing.

“From August 3,the Aadi perruku starts. It is the peak season sale in the year, where the shops will be overcrowded to purchase jewels, but this time it is a major drop in the business. And we are also unable to pay the workers for this sudden closure of shops. If the lockdown gets extended due to the third wave, our sector will be severely affected. The government should have given an alternative option,” said Jayanthilal Chalani, President, The Jewelers and Diamond Traders Association.