Any guess where the holiday crowds were this Ugadi?
If you think that it was the bus station, railway station or airport, you are caught on the wrong foot. They were at the gold showrooms in the city.
These establishments did brisk business throughout the day and according to conservative estimates, medium-sized gold showrooms could have done anywhere between Rs.50 lakh and Rs.1 crore on the day. The business done by bigger showroom was expected to be much higher.
The overall Ugadi gold sale is estimated to have registered an increase of 15 per cent this year as compared to last year.
“The sales this year was very low this year but picked up during the last two to three months. The offers given by gold merchants and the wedding season ahead seem to have spurred the demand for gold,” feels Rana Uppalapati of Tanishq.
“The drop in gold prices is another reason for customers opting to buy gold,” he says.
“The gold rush seems to be the result of favourable prices. Customers are not expecting any further drop in prices and want to cash in on the favourable market trends,” said Vamsi Krishna of Shyam Zaveri.
He, however, said that the last year Ugadi sale was better.
Spurt in showroomsThe spurt in gold showrooms in the city and new ones coming up in Gajuwaka and other areas meant that the sales had to be shared by the existing and new players, he said.