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Gearing up for the Diwali shopping spree

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MANIFOLD OPTIONS:Inhabitants of Puducherry are gearing up for a weekend of shopping. A scene at the PAPSCO bazaar in Anna Salai on Thursday.

PUDUCHERRY: With the festival of lights fast approaching, inhabitants of Puducherry are gearing up for a busy weekend to indulge themselves in the pleasures of shopping.

Showrooms across the town have had a makeover to attract the huge crowds that throng important commercial centres such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Street and the Mahatma Gandhi Road during the Diwali weekend.

Some of the textile shops have reserved their best collection for the festival to offer maximum variety to visitors. According to Velu, who manages a shop at M.G. Road, the crowd during the festival is “highly impatient” and would skip to the next shop if the varieties are not satisfactory. “They have so many options but very little time. So usually, if your collection is not satisfactory and your service is below par, they would just leave the shop,” he said.

Business has also picked up at the Diwali Bazaars opened by the Puducherry Agro-Products, Food and Civil Supplies Corporation (PAPSCO). Located in several areas including Anna Salai and Muthialpet, the bazaars offer products ranging from crackers to groceries. It also has shops put up by other agencies such as the PONTEX, PONFAB and Khadi offering handloom and other such products.

According to Vasanth Kumar, the Managing Director of PAPSCO, such bazaars registered a sale of Rs 3.93 crore last year with Rs 2.5 crore coming from cracker sales. The revised target for this year is Rs 5 crore.

Groceries at the bazaar are sold at discount rates. Toor daal is sold at Rs 50 per kg; jaggery at Rs 30 and maida at Rs 16. Palm oil is sold at the rate of Rs 40 per litre. Other groceries such as gram daal and sunflower oil are also sold at prices below the market price. The bazaar also sells cosmetics.

Sweet shops in the town have already received several “big orders” from both individuals and political parties for Diwali. A shop owner at Sardar Patel road said that Diwali is the time of the year when shops make maximum profit. “We employ additional labour during these times. We are also forced to give up on some orders owing to huge demand,” he said.

People also use the festival season to buy electronic products.

“This is the time when we can demand discounts from the shops. Otherwise, we have to wait for the yearly sale when only limited products will be showcased,” said Abhinav, who got a Play Station console this year.

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