With only two or three days left for the Eid-ul-Fitr, the city has been caught by Eid shopping fever with modern and traditional shopping malls bustling with shoppers from all strata. Thousands of people are purchasing items of their own choice with huge enthusiasm despite significant rise in prices of all kinds of clothes than the last year.
Beside shopping centers shops and carts offering used clothes and shoes also drew crowd. Mostly lower and middle income group visiting light house and other used cloth markets to get something for their kids. The city also experienced severe traffic gridlock as city dweller came out for shopping. There were huge rush at Samama on Universe Road, Dolmen Center, Luckeyone, Tariq Road, Bhadarabad and Saddar Movement of the shoppers has created huge traffic congestion in the major shopping areas. Shop owners said sales were showing an upward trend since the last couple of days.
Salesmen of different markets, footpaths, makeshift sales centers are passing busy time from morning to midnight as shoppers of all ages gathered there, they added. The shoppers particularly women and children were found very busy in buying Eid items including ready made dresses, shoes, cosmetics from posh shopping arcades on one hand and way side shops on the other.
The main attractions of shoppers were latest design clothes imported from different sub-continental countries including India. People swarmed onto the shopping malls to buy Shalwar Kamiz, shoes, cosmetics, jewellery, furniture and home decoration items to enjoy Eid, which is only three days away. A salesman at Saima shopping mall said that from the first day of Ramadan every year they had huge sales but this year they witnessed poor sale in the first week of Ramadan.
He said a huge rush of customers did not mean huge sales. Some were seen visiting markets with families who not only enjoyed shopping but also took full advantage of snacks and restaurants to buy or have some dishes. The shopping places become jam-packed to wear festive looks daily since noon. Market sources said prices of the clothes for male, female and children were about 30 to 40 percent higher than last year. Deployment of law enforcers at different points and market places and engagement of private security men at shopping malls by the authorities concerned have ultimately created a fool-proof security arrangement for businessmen as well as shoppers.