Low-income people throng Ctg's Zahur Hawkers' Market for Eid shopping

Rickshaw van puller Mohammad Hossain Miah buys clothes for his sons at Zahur Hawkers' Market, a shopping mall popular among low-income people in Chattogram, ahead of Eid every year and this year was no exception.

"I have to support my family with the small amount of money I earn by pulling a rickshaw van. I saved some money from my earnings and come to buy clothes for my sons on the occasion of Eid," he told TBS.

Zahur Hawkers' Market is popular among low-income people in the port city for its low-priced clothes and footwear. More people have been visiting the market this year as sellers have increased the variety of products. Shops remaining open till midnight are selling clothes at fixed prices at the end of the Eid season.

Over 500 small and big shops in the market sell different types of clothes, including shirts, pants, punjabis and sarees.

There are three categories of shops in the market. Some stores only sell carefully selected merchandise. These beautifully decorated shops offer excellent exportable apparel from local garment factories, which are a bit pricier compared to most products available in the market, but less costly than the products in posh shopping malls. The same clothes which sell for Tk2,500 in posh shopping malls can be found at Tk1,500-2,000 in these shops.

The second type of stores sell medium quality garments. Middle and lower-middle class people visit these shops.

Another group of shops on the pavement sells mediocre quality goods for very low prices. Prices of dresses in these shops are fixed from Tk50 to Tk100. People often take time to look through these shops to buy good quality products.

The market was overcrowded on Monday, but there were more men than women there. Consequently, panjabis, shirts and pants were selling more than women's clothes.

Mohammad Yusuf, owner of Ma-Mony Store in Zahur Hawkers, told TBS, "We have pants priced at Tk200-700.  Prices of shirts range from Tk300 to Tk500.

"Sales were very low – around Tk7,000 per day – at the beginning of Ramadan. However, it jumped to Tk15,000-20,000 last Friday. We expect it to increase further after Shab-e-Qadr."

Saiful Islam, another shop owner in the market, said, "People are not able to shop like before because of the inflation. Those who used to buy two shirts and pants, now buy only one shirt."

Traders who have set up shoe shops on the footpath in front of the market said a good number of customers have been visiting their shops. Sales are low during the day due to intense heat, but it increases at night. Here customers can buy shoes for Tk150-500.