Cracker traders in the city have been left in the cold this year with a dip in sales by as much as 50 % per cent with just two days left for the festival of light. The temporary shops put up by the traders at Gandhipuram and wholesale dealers oin R.G. Street say that the business was dull compared to last year.
Owners of a cracker shop at Gandhipuram 8th Street and Crosscut road said that only 50 people visited the the shop on Monday morning, but none of them bought the crackers. Consumers showed little interest in buying crackers due to soaring prices and increasing awareness on environment-related issues through social media, laments a shop owners at Gandhipuram 10th street.
A. Sheik, a wholesale cracker trader and also one of the office-bearers of the R.G. Street Wholesale Merchants Association, said that nearly 50 % of the business was affected this year due to poor circulation of money available to the working class due to low bonus payment in many industries in Coimbatore. This apart, the GST was the another factor hitting the cracker sales, he adds.
Though new varieties of crackers and a few other fancy items have come into market this year, people are but reluctant to buy because of high cost, said another cracker merchant in Town Hall.
The shop owners have been advised to maintain precautionary and fire preventive measures. The employees of the shops were also given training on fire fighting by the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department, a seller said.
