Shops see a drastic fall in sales

Sales in retail stores or brand shops are yet to get momentum in Dhaka since Sheikh Hasina fled the country after resigning from the post of prime minister on August 5 amid an uprising.

Sales of different kinds of shops have declined by at least 50 percent to as high as 80 percent and now they fear it may take a month or two to return to normalcy because of the changed political scenario.

The outlets started reopening on August 7 after a monthlong unrest across the country centring the government job quota reform protest, which later was followed by internet outage and curfew and ultimately causing the fall of Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet.

Popular lifestyle brand Apex reopened its outlet at Mazar road in Dhaka's Mirpur 1 on August 7, but sales are still nearly 30 percent less than that of any regular day, said Mohammad Monirul Islam, manager of the showroom.

"We normally sell goods worth Tk 2 lakh every day. But since August 7 our average daily sales hovered between Tk 1.2 lakh to Tk 1.4 lakh."

The buyers are still panicked and many of them are refraining from coming to the stores, he said.

The managers of several Apex outlets closed their shops by 6pm on August 9 due to security concerns, Islam said.

"Only 30 percent of our customers are now coming to the market," said Rasel Ahmed, a sari retailer at Mukto Bangla Shopping Complex of the same area.

"I think it would take over two weeks for the sales to spike."

An official of retail clothing brand Miclo said the average customer turnout at its Science Laboratory outlet was only 20 percent since its reopening on August 7.

Dhaka's Science Laboratory are was one of the major places hit hard by the student movement, the official said.

"The buyers are still suffering from some sort of fear. The return of the police force will ease the situation and give confidence to the buyers again," the official added.

A salesperson of the Science Laboratory outlet of popular lifestyle brand Aarong said the number of its customers is 60 percent lower than that of any day of the year.

Mohammad Akash, manager of retail clothing brand Giordano, also mentioned about a thin presence of the buyers since the reopening of the outlet at Bashundhara City shopping mall on August 9.

"Our sales have seen a drastic 90 percent fall."

Shafiqur Rahman, salesman of a baby cloth and toy retailer of the same mall, said his shop has seen a 50 percent drop in customers' numbers in the last two days.

Meanwhile, Bashir Ahmed who came to Aarong said the situation is quite normal now and that is why he thought of visiting its Science Laboratory outlet.

The shopkeepers across the country are getting only 30 percent of the regular sales now, Helal Uddin, president of Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association, told The Daily Star.

"We hope the situation would improve from the next week."