The pre-Diwali week this year has emerged to become the period of recovery at city malls which were facing a dearth in busines since the past few months. Retailers at several mall outlets stated, since the last week of October their business improved leading to rise in revenue.
"Footfalls started to increase in the malls post-Dussehra. Although we couldn't match up with the sales of last year but at least we are able to recover the losses and earn a profit at lesser margin this year" stated an official of a popular clothing line up.
"This year, Diwali has come a bit late, so people are buying winter wears along with Diwali shopping. This has boosted our revenues as well" stated a manager of a popular city based clothing chain.
Retailers of electronic sales and appliances also mentioned that their revenue improved from November first week. "We noticed that the demand for electronic gadgets surged since the first week of November. Television sets, fridges and washing machines are some of the products that we have sold in higher numbers this year," said a seller.
Jewellery owners also stated that Mumbaikars were enthused in buying gold products this year.
"Initially we were apprehensive, whether this year people would buy gold considering the economic crunch that we all have faced. But surprisingly the market performed beyond our expectations this season" stated Samir Naik, manager at a popular jewellery outlet chain in Mumbai.
From November 3, people have started to visit malls for buying jewellery as well. Although the price of gold was all time high this year with Rs 50,000 per 10 gm, yet it didn't refrain Mumbaikars from keeping up with their traditions. "During the pandemic, people were able to save a lot of money. People now are using these savings to invest in gold and other products ahead of this festive season" stated Dipankar Raut another jewelry dealer.
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