For the past few days, curiosity, fond memories and brand loyalty have been pulling shoppers to Usman Road to remains of the building that housed The Chennai Silks store, which caught fire on May 31. The building is being demolished now.
Ganesh and Jaikumar came all the way from Tambaram to take a look at the building, one side of which is visible from near the police barricades on Usman Road. “We parked our car in Saidapet and came by autorickshaw since we knew our movement would be restricted in this area,” said Jaikumar.
A senior citizen from Kalpakkam, whose family has been shopping for clothes for years now at the store, felt despondent at the loss.
Fond memories
“I have very fond memories of this place,” he said, even as he asked the policemen on duty where he could get a better view of the building. Then, there were people like Lakshmi from Teynampet, who had bought a sari along with her daughter at the store as recently as last week.
Employees of other shops too came to take a look at the progress of the ongoing demolition.
Mohammed Ghani, whose fancy goods store on the adjacent street is currently closed, said it was only a few months ago that sheets were placed atop the seven-storey building for a canteen for employees. “Even if I reopened my shop, I wouldn’t get any customers since the roads are barricaded,” he said. With the roads leading to the building and Usman Road barricaded at several points, policemen on duty had a tough time telling shoppers, residents and curious visitors that they couldn’t take the short cuts they were used to. The policemen at different spots were also served bajjis, biscuits and coffee by GRT jewellers, whose volunteers also manned the barricades at the entrance of Pinjala Subramaniam Street.
