Pune: Shops open to a lukewarm response in Lockdown 5.0

PUNE: After a near three-month break, several shops opened their shutters across the city on Friday., but there was a tepid response from shoppers.
This was part of the second phase of Pune Municipal Corporation’s ‘Mission Begin Again’, under which outlets in non-containment zones would be allowed to function on a P1-P2 basis. Several other stores had started operations on May 18.
“I think it will take time for business to restart properly,” said Prashant Sasawade, owner of Shree Shrungar on the busy Hong Kong lane.
It was a similar story at city’s oldest market place — Laxmi Road. “We received only 15 customers today. People don’t step out to buy only one thing, and with shops on one side of the road closed, people appear to wait for the entire market to open,” Surendra Jain, owner of Kajree, said.
Kothrud Asmita Deshmukh said she was stunned to see the normally bustling Laxmi Road so quiet. “Tulshibaug was also similar. Sari shops on both sides of Kumthekar Road were too open on Friday morning,” Deshmukh said.
Akash Gidwani, who runs a garment store on JM Road, said there was some confusion about the guidelines. “I believe that it will take about a week for clarity and shops to open,” he said.
Many shopkeepers in Kalyaninagar observed that only those selling essential goods were doing good business.
“Very few customers have shopped in my store, and that only out of a need for fitness wear,” Ashish Agarwal, who sells ready-made apparel, said.
In Baner, many stand-alone stores and factory outlets of major brands were open. “We saw no crowd when we went to buy some shoes,” Prerna Goyal, a Baner resident said, adding that it was “a major relief” to be out shopping after so long.
Shops in Model Colony were open only from 10am to 2pm as they were close to Wadarwadi, a containment zone. “We decided to restrict our hours because we don’t want to put our customers at risk,” a grocery shop owner in Deep Bungalow Chowk told TOI on Friday.