With the biggest annual festival for the Hindu community commencing on Friday sales of most fancy items, food, sweets and fashionable cloths and sarees have boomed in last few days across most of the shopping malls.
Most of the salesmen expressed satisfaction with the rush of the customers. Such a rush greatly contributed in boosting sales, especially in clothing shops. Grocery sales also picked up but still behind the fancy and clothing items.
“Durga Puja means shopping, enjoying, roaming around and eating,” said Mahmud Hossain, founder of a clothing retail shop in Eastern Plaza.
Ahead of such festival, fashion clothing brands and food brands launch new collections and come up with various offers, including discounts.
Madhavi, a college student in the city, said she saved money to buy new brands of attires on the occasion of Puja. “My friends and I planned to go shopping this week to fetch some new clothing and a few pairs of shoes for my cousins.”
Most clothing retailers said they noticed teen male customers preferring T-Shirts and stretch jeans which are now the latest fashion trends while teenage girls prefer long sleeve tops with long skirts and also shalwarkameez.
Traditionally, sales of such fancy products usually pick up around 10 days before the beginning of Durga Puja. In addition, sales continue for at least three more days after it kicks off.
Fashion wear, accessories, home textiles, handicrafts and handloom-based products are popular, say traders adding that such trend of boom in sales is noticed despite
political unrest and global economic crisis.
“Many of the brand shops in most malls are offering discounts to attract customers. We have already noticed good response as buying spree rises,” said Junaid Kamal, a shop owner in Rapa Plaza.
Many retail shop owners expressed satisfaction in sales of sarees and Salwar Kameez.
At Bashundhara City mall Harun Miah said that sarees, lehengas, and salwar kameez are in high demand during this Puja season. “Customers prefer silk, siphon and embroidered sarees while Jamdani sarees are also in high demand.”
Meanwhile, most of the shoe brands are offering discounts which go as far as 30 percent. “Enthusiastic customers are rushing in the shops to fetch their choice of shoes,” said Mizanur Rahman, a salesman at a Banani branch of a shoe retailer.
Sales of home appliance also increase around any such festival. Products like blenders, grinders, toasters, electric knives, egg-beaters, rice cookers, microwave ovens, fridges, washing machines and televisions see increased sales.
“There is a huge rush of deliveries of electronic items,” said Mazhar Uddin, manager of an electronic brand in Gulshan. “We are hardly able to cope with the rush of orders. Puja is certainly one of the reasons,” he added.
Sweets are another of the most popular items of the festival. Most of the food outlets are offering special packages with blends of various sweet items.
“We have huge orders of sweets for the Puja,” said Ramen Ghosh, owner of a popular sweet shop in Dhanmandi.
Meanwhile, milk suppliers are also in rush trying to cope with the rush of high demands for milk and other dairy products.
KartikMondol, a sweet maker in Manikganj said, “We have huge orders based on the Puja festival.”