The owners of textile and clothing brands, who recently reopened their showrooms after weeks of lockdown, have been witnessing minimal footfall and negligible business.
Even the branded stores along the busy Usman Road wore a deserted look on Tuesday — the second day of resumption of business. Many shops kept their trial rooms under lock and key and informed customers that purchased goods could not be exchanged. A few brands that have decided to allow trials are steaming the clothes before placing them back on display.
Ramesh Pothy, managing director of textile chain Pothys, said footfall was very low in all three stores in Chennai, adding that he was confident that it would gradually increase. “We are not allowing anyone into trial rooms. There will be no exchanges until the situation improves,” he said.
Wedding sales
K. Sivakumar, managing director, RmKV Silks, said that since many weddings had been postponed till January 2021, walk-ins had not been encouraging. But with smaller weddings taking place, the firm expects sales to pick up in the coming days.
“Customers have been coming to buy sarees for smaller marriages that are happening now, but the billing value is not high. They are spending ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 on the brides’ sarees, but not on those for anyone else. Earlier, while buying sarees for the bride, the family will also pick up gift sarees for relatives, which is not happening now,” Mr. Sivakumar added.
At RmKV, customers were being allowed to try on the new clothes only after billing. The situation was quite different at Naidu Hall 1939, where 10 people were standing in a queue, waiting for their turn to make payment. Chief executive officer Aravind Rama Naidu said business had been good, as lingerie was a necessity for women. “Women change their lingerie once every 3-6 months, and the demand has been good for us. We also sell clothes for pregnant women, for which there is huge demand,” he said, adding that online sales had picked up, with 50-100 orders being received per day.
The proprietor of another textile showroom was seen explaining to his employees how to interact with customers and keep themselves and the premises clean. “Only if we are clean will customers have the confidence to buy products from our shops,” he said.
Changing seasons
“Summer wear will not be of use anymore. So, I am looking at hiving them off during the upcoming Aadi sales. This is a huge loss for me. I am hopeful that once the schools reopen, there will be a demand for uniforms,” he said. He noted that normally, a lot of NRIs would come here during the summer to buy sarees, salwars and shirts in bulk, and with international flights grounded, the demand from this particular segment had fallen.
P. Dinesh, a customer who is getting married this week and had come to T. Nagar to make some purchases, said that there was no air conditioning in any of the shops. “Is it suffocating for the elderly and parents,” he said.
Many customers visited clothing stores wearing gloves, and made it a point to ask the salespeople whether the clothes and the premises were sanitised. Billing counters were being wiped after each purchase.
Public transport
Smaller textile shops were the worst hit. According to them, unless public transport resumes, they will not see any sales. The owner of a small textile shop said, “People come to my shop from various parts of Chennai on trains. With no trains, my business has been zero.”
Siddhartha Bindra, managing director of BIBA, an ethnic apparel brand, said the fashion retail sector had been the worst hit and had suffered maximum losses. “Sales have been tepid in Tamil Nadu since there have been a large number of COVID-19 cases, and a sense of fear still prevails. However, online sales have been good for us, as many customers are moving to online in the current scenario,” he added.