Bay News Network, Visakhapatnam: As many as 300 registered cloth merchants and garment traders are making brisk business in Bay City as the festival of Sankranti is just around the corner. According to retail industry sources, sales during Sankranti make for almost 60 to 70% of the total festive sales in a year. It is learnt that all the minor and major cloth retail outlets will make nearly Rs 20 to 30 crore business in the Sankranti festival alone in the Bay City.
Some of the busiest shopping malls which have announced attractive schemes and offers to the customers are, Kankatala, CMR Central, Chandana Bros, SR Shopping Mall, Pantaloons, MF Khan, CMR Shopping Mall, RK Shopping Mall, Vizag Cental Mall, Vinis Shopping Mall, Big Bazaar, V Square, Singapore Plaza, CMR Grand, ANR Shopping Mall, Pariwar, Baba Bazar, SMR Shopping Mall, Sri Sumangali Shopping Mall and Sri Vaibhav Shopping Mall.
A priest, K Sundara Sarma, said that “Sankranti is the biggest festival for the entire coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh. Almost all members of the family purchase clothes during the festival and every company expects good business during this period.”
A cloth merchant, K Rajeswara Rao said that the trend is going good as compared to last year and many merchants expect it to improve in the coming days till Bhogi on January 14 in the city.
Explaining the kind of sales witnessed during Sankranti, the manager of another garment showroom, Pawan Mohan said, “For instance, a shop that makes around Rs 15,000 to 20,000 during Diwali, makes at least around Rs 1-1.5 lakh during Sankranti.”
A senior executive member of merchant association in the city said, “Compared to the last three months, sales have definitely gone up. At present, sales are almost as good as last year’s Sankranti sales.”
At the same time, garment showrooms are leaving no stone unturned to woo customers by offering attractive offers. Referring to the offers, Parimala, an avid shopper, said, “While tradition is one of the reasons for purchasing clothes during this season, another factor that works for us is that we can get better and more clothes in the same budget due to the good discounts available.”