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Eyes left, eyes right, purses out – Avurudu shopaholics hit the streets
A woman clad in a pale green skirt and blouse rushes through garment shops amidst the large crowds in Maharagama. Her companion is also eagerly looking at the clothes displayed. Both are carrying bulging bags.
All roads lead to Colombo at this time of the year as shoppers arrive from different parts of the country in serach of cheap but quality stuff. Pix by Susantha Liyanawatte
With the Sinhala and Tamil New Year around the corner this is not a rare sight. The festival, the only event in the country to be celebrated by both Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, has finally come and the public enthusiasm is high.
Masses from all over the country are arriving in Colombo in hopes of buying “quality” items cheaply. Large sales and discount outlets are doing good business in Maharagama, Nugegoda, Dehiwala and Pettah.
“We came from Matara to purchase garments for the New Year. We are buying for everyone, including our close relatives,” the woman in green, Inoka Dahamsiri, a 44-year-old mother of three, said. She had arrived in Colombo that morning and was to go back home the same evening.
Pettah is one of the key spots for shopping during the season. With anything and everything a person would need to celebrate the festival on sale here, it is crowded day and night. Hunting for trousers for a brothe or a blouse for an aunt, people stride through the
Y.M.D. Wickemasinghe: Less bananas this time
noisy lanes. Though all seems positive for the salesmen, most street vendors contradict the notion.
“I have been selling goods in Pettah for over 35 years now. This time I’m selling belts. We know at the start of the season if the sales will be profitable, and this time it is bad,” said Thuwam Parsath, 60, a father of five from Nittambuwa.
He said most traders have to take out loans to buy their stock and lived on the meagre margins “This New Year is not good for us. Our families are suffering because of it.”
The vendors are only allowed to pitch their stalls on the street during the lead-up to the New Year, Thuwan said. This short period was not sufficient for him to make enough profit to pay off his debts.
“Before the war it was different. We were allowed to sell in streets. Do you see any roadblocks these days? Then why do they ask us to leave?” he questioned.
Y.M.D. Wickemasinghe, 57, a father of three, has been selling bananas for 26 years in Pettah. In earlier years he used to bring six baskets of the fruit every day but now he brings only two because, he said, sales had dropped drastically during the past few years.
Some vendors have given up. Mohammad Irfam, 33, a father of two from Maligawatte, is one. “I normally sell electronics, toys and other items during this time. I didn’t this time because the sales are not good enough to pay off the loans traders take to purchase goods as well as make a profit,” he said adding that his brother-in-law has a stall this year but is not doing much business.
Channa Karunaratna: Content with sales
Yet some are staying optimistic. H.A. Anthony, a father of four from Kelaniya, is selling denims in Pettah. The items are in demand by the crowds. “I think that it by the end of the season we will have made fairly good sales,” he said. “Most of my customers are from out of Colombo. They come here to make bulk purchases for many people.”
Another trader, B. Boniface from Wattala, also said the start of the sale weeks were not too bad. There will be a rise in the sales because most shop during the New Year week itself, he said.
Outside Pettah, sales managers of garment shops were also content. “We are positive that we will be able to beat the sales we had last year. We see that people are willing to pay any amount for the goods they buy because they are looking for quality products,” said Channa Karunaratna, a showroom manager of a garment shop on Kesbewa Road, Borelesgamuwa.
As Colombo and its suburbs were looking positive for increased sales businessmen of Jaffna had a different story. The Administration Officer of Chamber of Commerce in Jaffna, V. Sritharan, said that business for Jaffna traders had dropped because a co-operative outlet in the city that offered all kinds of goods under one roof was drawing away custom.
“People are going to this place and not buying from local traders. Some unhappy traders have even had to close their shops. Southern salesmen have also arrived and put up stalls in that place and local traders who work here the year through are out of business,” he said.
Business in Hambanthota and Kandy is reportedly good. Hotels in the districts have bookings. Hotel managers said foreign tourists were showing interest in visiting Sri Lanka at this time of the year.
| Auspicious times
Bathing for the Old Year is next Saturday (April 12) while the New Year will dawn at 7.37am the following Monday (April 14). Punya Kalaya will begin at 1.13am and end at 2.01pm that day. Meal preparation for the New Year is to begin at 10.17am on April 14. The anointing with oil will fall on Wednesday, April 16. The time for the first departure for work in the New Year is sets for 6.16am on April 17. CAA moves into higher gear The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has raided nearly 5000 outlets in a special New Year programme from March 10 to April 10 in all districts. The CAA plans to inspect all retail shops and warehouses and will take action against places that sell food and other products unfit for consumption. Officers are also paying special attention to mobile vendors and other New Year sales stalls. They are looking at malpractices in pricing and sale of low-quality products. Uniformed and plain-clothed police will be deployed in public areas. Plain-clothed police will also be on the buses to ensure people’s safety. Extra transport laid on A special bus service will introduced for the Sinhala and Tamil New year from April 7 and will continue until April 21. SLTB Chief Operations Superintendent H.M. Chandrasiri said 5000 buseswould be deployed each day, for the two weeks, around the country. Sri Lanka Railways has put on eight extra trains to Badulla, Galle and Matara. The special train to Matara that normally operates only on weekends and state holidays will also be working from April 2 to April 20. |
