Hit the streets to shop

CHENNAI: Street shopping is an experience like no other. All the latest designs hit the streets first and you can always bargain with the shopkeeper to buy your favourite product that fits your budget. While some might worry about the quality, most of these products are worth what we pay.

Chennai is no stranger to street shopping. There’s Pondy Bazaar for clothes, accessories and shoes, and Pantheon Road for clothes. But every area in the city now has a specific street for shopping. Thanks to several malls that have come up recently, Spencer Plaza, the oldest mall in Chennai, is now home to some exclusive products.

“Clothes are priced reasonably in street shops because we take surplus material and sell it. Surplus denotes excess material, but the quality is same,” says Maha Bharathi, proprietor, Mekla Collections, Spencer Plaza. During festivals and holiday seasons, most customers prefer to buy products that are on trend. Hence, these shopkeepers will have to keep themselves updated on their products according to the current trend. “We purchase all the latest outfits and accessories from Mumbai, Kolkata and China,” says Mohammed, who owns a shop in Mylapore. Some of them are also imported from Thailand and Bangkok.
These shops have loyal customers, too. “I’ve been purchasing clothes and accessories for the past nine years from street shops. The quality is good. I’m still using the kurtas which I bought seven years back,” says Roheni, a customer.

Sometimes, customers put in extra time and effort to choose products, because there is always the looming scare of the item being damaged or low in quality. “I usually purchase my clothes in street shops. The tip to street shopping is to take it slow, as there might be some damages or the same size might not fit you, if you go to different shops,” says Harini, another customer.

But an advantage is that if you want a product in a particular size and colour, the shopkeepers go out of the way to get it for you. Accessories are priced from `20 onwards and clothes are priced between `150 and `1,500. “We know the difficulty of getting customers, and retaining them. So, we have to give them good quality products according to their needs,” says Raja Pandian, who owns a shop in Pallavaram.

Check them out
●    Spencer Plaza
●    Pallavaram
●    Mylapore
●    MC Road
●    Besant Nagar
●    Fountain Plaza
●    Egmore