Ranchi: The festive season usually means people queuing up at shops for fancy new clothes, shoes, cosmetics and other things of opulence. But this year, as the pandemic continues to rage in Ranchi, shoppers are going for daily home wear and stocking up on masks.
Without having to go to work, Sunday brunches, movies, dates or parties, shirts, suits, formal dresses, denims and high heels are gathering dust in the closet while casual dresses, comfortable pyajama sets and fancy slippers have been among the most used pieces of clothing in the last seven months.
“I don’t see the point in buying fancy expensive clothes when we don’t know when we will be able to attend parties, social gatherings and weddings. Even spending money on formal wear seems useless as work-from-home is here to stay. I have mostly bought daily wear this time,” marketing executive Avita said.
Shops are stocking up on casual wear and among them, jeans are in high demand. “In the backdrop of experts regularly advising us to wash our clothes immediately after reaching home, it makes sense for people to buy clothes that do not require dry cleaning — jeans is one of them. Keeping this in mind, we have even stocked up on cotton clothes,” Madan Juneja, manager at an apparel store in Daily Market, said.
A similar scenario prevails in shops selling shoes. Instead of high-heels, sandals and other types of fancy shoes, the stores are flooded with slippers and chappals. “Earlier, when I used to go to office I needed formal shoes. But now with a work-from-home scenario, all I need is a comfortable pair of chappals,” Vikas Choudhary, a manager at a leading private firm, said.
The only fancy item that is flying off the shelves this year is masks. Shops are luring the customers with intricately designed and heavily embroidered masks that are available in various colours. “Since masks have become an essential part of our lives, we have stocked up on masks of various designs, sizes and colours which are priced around Rs 400,” said a store manager of a leading brand of the Birla group.
And the customers are lapping it up, along with sanitizers, fancy gloves and dispensers. “I have already sold huge stocks of such masks and I am planning to add more to my stock,” he added.