Warm winters and demonetisation mar sales in Delhi’s oldest Jeans market
NEW DELHI: The iconic Mohan Singh Place, located near Baba Kharak Singh Marg, was Delhi’s first Jeans market. It soon became the first unofficial mall in the late 60s. Around 300 people would rush into a single store for shopping in a complex which houses more than 124 clothing shops.
After demonetisation on November 8, however, not even ten customers visit a single shop. Many shop owners now idle away their time, waiting for business to pick up.
“We used to have 8-10 customers who would visit our store on a daily basis. It is not like it used to be in the 60s, but at least we managed to survive. But now we hardly see any one visit our store,” said Aman, manager of Royal Clothing store.
The two-floored housing complex, which houses the India Coffee Home on the terrace, wears an abandoned look. “Everyone used to visit the place. People would buy their first suits and also buy clothing for special occasion from this complex. We used to make Rs 20-30 thousand every day, but now we make just about Rs 5,000. It barely covers the bills,” he further added.
The complex had its share of bad luck before demonetisation too. After several malls started mushrooming around the city, many people stopped visiting the complex. Luckily, Delhi Metro breathed fresh life into the complex as with better connectivity customers started streaming in.
But then the cash crunch came. 60 days later, the clock was turned on its head. “This feels like just like before the Metro was introduced. The work is not just slow, it is dead. There are times when some shops don’t sell a single product for the entire day,” said Rahul, a tailor who works at one of the shops.
The store owners have also adapted to electronic payment services to crank up sales, but even that has its limitations. “We just have a Paytm limit of Rs 20,000, but that is not enough. We sometimes get 15-20 orders daily and we have written to the authorities to give us a limit of Rs 1,00,000 and they still haven’t replied,” Aman said.
To add insult to injury, the weather hasn’t been kind on the traders, as a warmer winter means a lot of the winter clothing stock is left lying around.
“We had anticipated the market trend to be on our side. I had personally stocked up on winter clothes this season, but the winter’s never came. It feels like spring this time around. I will have to find some way to sell the stock,” said Ram Kishan, the manager of a store.
With store owners reporting a 75 per cent dip in sales, many are trying to figure out how to pay the daily expenses. “I spend at least Rs 1,500 on a daily basis. I have to pay my master, labourers, store managers. I have been compromising with them all this while. But soon their patience will run out,” said Gaurav, who owns a jeans shop.
Many store owners at Mohan Singh Place have also adapted to electronic payment services to crank up sales, but even that has its limitations