BHOPAL: The glamour of shopping in festivals is not limited to old markets only, as the outskirts are also turning into shopping hubs with all the items. This has also led to lesser footfalls in old markets of Bhopal this year.
These new shopping hubs are being developed rapidly and it seems that customers from Kolar, Piplani, Govindpura, Misrod and other areas hardly bother to travel to New Market, Chowk Bazaar, MP Nagar, Jahangirabad or Bairagarh for festive shopping.
Besides, the surge in online trade, global inflation and big outlets in every corner of Bhopal are among the reasons, the old and big markets in Bhopal have witnessed lesser footfalls this year.
The rush of festivals and the travel time are among the reasons that the residents wish to do their shoppings from their nearby markets instead of heading towards other markets at far flung areas.
Eve, the sarafa market in Chowk is no more the first choice of residents and they are seen heading towards other areas for this.
A trader in Kolar, Mahesh Agrawal said Kolar has witnessed a rise of business over 30 per cent with number of shops rising each year. He said the markets in all the areas on outskirts of Bhopal are now developing as shopping hubs. He says the areas around Kolar and the road from Sarwaharam to Lalita Nagar are now dotted with shops that have everything we need today.
Ajay Devnani, secretary of new market association says the online trade has risen in these many years. Besides, global inflation has also dissuaded customers from shopping this year. We have had never an issue with any rising market of Bhopal, until the rise in online shopping. Devnani says the new market has an emotional connect with the residents who also come from several kilometers to shop from there as we have everything ranging from a product of Re 1 or Rs 10 lakh.
He further says the online trade and global inflation are the only reasons that we witnessed lesser sale this year.
