After the pandemic, Pre-Covid Puja shoppers return, but with smaller wallets.
The bazaars may be packed, but pre-Puja business is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, according to traders across the city.
Even during the holiday season, the demon of inflation cannot be defeated. For one group of customers, the puja purse has shrunk since 2018 or 2019.
For many others, the purse is slightly larger this year. However, this is far too little to offset the rapid rise in the cost of almost everything.
As a result, traders’ volumes and margins have decreased. With less than two weeks until Bengal’s biggest festival, space in Gariahat and New Market may be limited.
However, traders would argue that profit was a more difficult find.
New Market
The proprietor of a menswear shop in Shreeram Arcade, Arsalan Shams, claimed that his sales were “at least 30%” lower than in 2019.
He claimed that fewer people were shopping.
“Before the pandemic, people from Asansol and Durgapur would come to my store before Puja. However, they are no longer willing to spend additional money on travel, according to Shams.
Including the wages of the three men who work at the store, Shams must spend Rs 15,000 a month on “maintenance.” But his wholesale buying rate saw the biggest increase.
In 2019, a full-sleeve shirt would cost him Rs 550; today, it costs him Rs 700. Three years ago, Shams charged Rs. 750 for the shirt. He is now having trouble selling the same item for Rs 850.
Biswajit Paul, a sales executive with a real estate brokerage firm, earns more than he did last year. His puja spending has increased, but his shopping volume has not.
He was a delivery partner with a food aggregator three years ago, covering Behala, Thakurpukur, and New Alipore. Even after deducting his fuel expenses, he would earn around Rs 26,000 per month.
Three years ago, petrol cost around Rs 75 per liter. It now costs more than Rs 100 per litre.
Paul left the food aggregator in January of this year because “too many people” had entered the industry following the pandemic. According to Paul, who joined the aggregator in 2018, the “scope of income” was much better before the pandemic due to limited resources.
Paul, a political science graduate, has also completed a hardware networking certificate course from a private institute. He now earns around Rs 30,000.
However, he is the family’s sole earner, and the rising cost of everything — from edible oil to LPG cylinders — has left him with virtually no surplus income.
Gariahat
Balaram Saha, a 26-year-old hawker selling bedsheets and cushion covers in Gariahat, is struggling to keep up with rising input costs and diminishing returns.
According to Saha, a “loyal customer” from Lake Market buys a set of bed and cushion covers almost every year.
Saha employs a few people in his shop. Their salary and other expenses total nearly Rs 2,000 per day. Trips to the wholesale market in Burrabazar are included.
“Three years ago, I bought a bedsheet for Rs 200 and sold it for Rs 300. In 2022, a customer is unwilling to pay more than Rs 350 for the same item. However, I have to buy it right now for Rs 280,” Balaram Saha explained.
When Puja was knocking on doors during the week in 2019, Saha would sell goods worth Rs 20,000–25,000.
On a weekday this year, the amount has been close to Rs 15,000. The sale would frequently exceed Rs 60,000 on Saturday and Sunday. He sold goods last Saturday for Rs 35,000.
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