Large crowds thronged the city’s commercial hubs on Sunday, providing a much-needed boost to businesses.
With the partial lifting of lockdown curbs earlier, the retail industry had been witnessing only 20%-30% sales, and even the busiest months of July and August failed to attract footfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have seen a 10% increase in business. With transportation opening up, more people are stepping out to make purchases, and we hope the trend continues,” said P.A. Ravindran, general manager of Chennai Silks. “The numbers look good but are still far from normal. Only intent-based shopping happened,” said Suhail Sattar, chairman of the Chennai chapter of the Retail Association of India.
Roadside vendors and small traders in T. Nagar said they had a good weekend after a long time.
Booming weekend
“When compared to the last three weeks, the crowd was much bigger on Saturday and Sunday. There was brisk business,” said Baasha, a vendor. Many restaurants and eateries, which remained closed for over five months, have now reopened. A small-time restaurateur, who sells biryani, said this Sunday had been the most energetic day for him in a while as many customers walked in.
“Once trains start running, there will be more business for me,” he added.
Other restaurants in the city saw a marginal increase in footfalls this weekend as customers came with their families.
“There was a 10%-15% increase in footfalls this weekend. For the hotel industry, the numbers (in terms of walk-ins) have been fluctuating in the last two months,” said M. Ravi, president, The Chennai Hotels Association and chairman of Vasanta Bhavan Hotels India Pvt. Ltd.
Traders and retailers said the extension of the closing time by an hour had also benefited them. Shops now down shutters by 8 p.m. “People generally wrap up work by 6 p.m. or 6.30 p.m. and find it difficult to go shopping. With the time extension, they are able to do that,” said another big retailer, requesting anonymity.