With sales at the weekly retail shops in E.K.M. Abdul Gani Textile Market yet to pick up, traders have pinned their hopes on Deepavali sales.
A total of 730 weekly and 370 daily shops function on the market premises at Panneerselvam Park. Shops at the weekly market function from Monday evening to Tuesday night and brisk business is usually witnessed before festival season. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, weekly shops were not allowed to function during night hours till last week. On Tuesday, weekly shops also functioned. But the sales volume was less.
Members of the Gani Market Weekly Textile Traders’ Association said that the retail sales was around 40% and wholesale sales less than 20%.
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“Deepavali falls on November 4 and we expect the sales to improve in the coming weeks,” they said. Members said that they expect brisk sales for the festival season in October as manufacturing of garments and other textile products were in full swing.
Many traders said that sale of textile products to North Indian states were picking up. The Tamil month of Purattasi has just started and people will start regular purchases after two weeks, they said .