New home hits College St traders

The temporary relocation of shops from College Street market has hit the shopkeepers hard.

Overall business of former College Street Market shoplkeepers, now housed at Marcus square, has taken a severe hit, specially in this "puja" season.

There is a huge drop in sale compared to the last year when the market was in the original building premises.

The worst hit were basically the retail outlets foot wares, garments and cosmetics.

"60 percent of our sales have declined at this market compared to last year when the market was at the old location, said Dilip Nandi, a senior official, managing cash in the Khadims outlet. The overall environment surrounding the area is not at all conducive to proper business, he added.

The new location, Markos square has been the address of nearly 700 shopkeepers since the demolition of the old college street market started in February this year. The old market would be replaced by, "Barnaparichoy", a seven-storied book mall with 1.2 million sq ft., decorated with special displays and a culture zone.

The corporation is being held responsible for the situation. The visible negligence on their part regarding conditions of the road, sanitation facilities and the drainage system are the main reason for the present depression of the shopkeepers, alleged a prominent shop owner, without disclosing his identity.

Almost all the shopkeepers were of the similar opinion regarding the sale proceeds this season.

"On an average, all the shops big or small has noticed a drop in more than 50 percent of its sales," said Prabir Dutta, a hardware shop owner, and prominent member of the dealers' association in the market.

Meanwhile, amidst overwhelming views of the drop in sale, Debu Adhikari, manager of the Shreeleathers outlet went the other way.

According to him considering the location and the size of the shops, the sale were satisfactory.

"As far as we are concerned, considering the size and the location of our outlet, the sales are quite satisfactory, and I think there is no decline compared to last year," Adhikari maintained.

However, a lucky draw, along with parallel advertisements in television has been arranged by the promoter group Bengal Shelter Housing Development Ltd in order to promote the location in the festive season.