Durga Puja shopping hubs plan extended biz hours to make up for rain-rally losses

Kolkata: Traditional shopping hubs for Durga Puja, along with several markets, will remain open for extended hours to tackle the festive rush. With just two weekends to go before Durga Puja, and rallies and rain eating into precious business hours over the past two weeks, the managements of several markets have decided to keep shops open for an extra one or two hours.
Vendors in several traditional shopping hubs, like Hatibagan, Gariahat and New Market areas, are already staying open till as late as 11pm.The business hours might increase further depending on the rush of buyers over the weekend.
“Due to the rush of shoppers, we are open for business till 10pm,” said Ravi Chugani, secretary of the shopowners’ association of Shreeram Arcade. “The footfall in the market is very encouraging and we expect the business to pick up further over the weekend.” During the non-festive season, the shops in the market start shutting down by 8pm.
Other markets in the area, like Globe Mall, Treasure Island, Simpark Mall and Citymart, have been staying open beyond the regular hours. “Business has picked up from the last weekend. We expect more footfall once it stops raining completely,” said Mohammed Idris, an apparel shop owner in New Market.
Other puja shopping hubs, like Gariahat and Hatibagan, are abuzz with buyers till late into the night. Several vendors said they were staying open till 10.30pm-11pm since customers were still around.
“The last couple of weeks were bad for business due to the incessant rain. On many days, we could not even open our stalls as it was raining heavily. The momentum has picked up in the last few days,” said a vendor in Gariahat.