PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The city’s major markets, especially Paltan Bazaar, which are usually bustling with shoppers, are experiencing an unusual quiet nowadays. The combination of summer holidays and the extreme heat has kept customers away, forcing the traders to wait until evening for business. The shop-owners reported a decline in sales, as the scorching afternoon heat deters buyers, with most now visiting only after 6 PM an even later. “This shorter shopping window is negatively impacting our business,” said a shop-owner based in Paltan Bazaar. Notably, the decrease in foot traffic is also evident online, with videos of shopkeepers playing cricket amidst empty shops circulating on social media.
A shopkeeper Harish said that as the mercury rises above 40 degrees Celsius, customer footfall in the market area has significantly declined. He said that from 12 PM to 6 PM, the number of customers visiting the market has dropped drastically, which ultimately affects sales. “Although customers do arrive after 6 PM, this approaches the closing time of the market,” he complained.
Another shopkeeper this correspondent spoke to echoed Harish’s view and ascribed the decline in customer footfalls and sales volume to the soaring temperatures and summer vacations in schools. “People are out of the city with their children,” he said.
“We open our shops daily, but hardly one or two customers visit in the afternoon. With the current spike in temperatures, people tend to avoid coming, which is financially hurting us,” he added.
The president of the Doon Valley Mahanagar Udyog Vyapar Mandal (DVMUVM), Pankaj Masson supported the traders’ views and said that multiple factors, including soaring temperatures and summer vacations, have affected shopkeepers’ sales in the markets. “People are skipping visits during the afternoon; instead, they come after 6 PM. Consequently, shopkeepers who would attend 10 customers on average now hardly attend six, as more people prefer to visit only after 6 PM. Things will improve once the climate gets cooler with rain,” he added.
