Pulwama, June 28: The usual festive mood eluded Choodi Bazaaz in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on the eve of this Eid ul Adha.
Most shopkeepers in this women oriented market said that customer footfall recorded a drastic decrease this time.
The market consists of around 20 shopkeepers who deal in items like scarves, hosiery, cosmetics, bangles, jewellery, perfumes and other items.
Since 2007 this shopping centre has emerged as a favourite market for lady shoppers .
Ahead of Eid ul Adha, the market would wear a festive look and women from Pulwama, Pampore, Shopian, Anantnag and other areas used to visit this place.
They would make big purchases at the market, shopkeepers recalled.
However, most shopkeepers here said that they were agonised by low sales on the eve of this Eid.
Saliq Ashraf, a Shopkeeper at Choodi Bazaar, said that such was the rush of customers on previous occasions that five sales men would fall short in tending them.
“ This time I am a lone sales person and I was almost sitting ideal till noon ,” he said, adding that there is significant decrease in footfall of customers as well as in purchases.
Another Shopkeeper, Sameer Ahmad, said that he recorded very low sales on the eve of this Eid ul Adha.
He added that to lure customers to purchase various items the margin of profit on them was kept at minimum.
The Shopkeepers said that though sales picked up a little in the afternoon but it was like sales on any normal day.
The shopkeepers said that the purchasing power of customers has fallen due to which market is being impacted.
Jehangir Ahmad, President Traders Federation, Pulwama, told Rising Kashmir that overall market in this southern district remained comparatively sluggish on the eve of Eid.
