The month of Ramadan ends with the blessings of Eid. With strong religious values attached to the celebrations, Eid remains an integral part of our culture. People throng shopping malls and retail outlets and spend heavily on clothing, shoes,fragrances, gifts and sweets for the occasion. Simultaneously, this inflow of the masses brings along business prospects for traders and the business community.
While looking at the religious factors, Eid brings along the joy of sharing and caring. The essence behind ‘fitra’ is to share the Eid celebrations with the less privileged. Through fitra they can also buy new clothes for Eid. On the cultural front, mehndi (henna), bangles, clothes, shoes, sweets, are the unavoidable articles.
Karachi being the largest city of the country, with its rich religious and cultural diversity , remains extremely active during Ramadan, and pre-Eid shopping keeps the city streets busy. This city has everything for everyone; from high-end brands and shopping malls to small vendors, shops, and carts.
Malls in Karachi are of great attraction to the public. These malls house almost all the brands, be it from stitched and clothes, stylish shoes and footwear, precious, semi precious, and ordinary jewellery or fragrances. The residents enjoy purchasing everything under one roof in a neat, clean, and safe environment. Some of the most popular malls are located at the Sea View, Clifton, Saddar, and Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
The high-end brands’ outlets are easily accessible at Zamzama,Khadda market, Hyderi main market, Do Talwar and Teen Talwar etc. These places are frequently visited by the residents of Defence and Clifton. The cuts, style, colours, brands and uniqueness are very conspicuous at these outlets.
These are the shopping places that house the most exclusive products and frequently witness new launches. Ranchhor line, Bolton market, Jama Cloth Market, Allahwala Market, Gulshan-e-iqbal Sunday market, are the places for the cost-conscious shoppers.
If you want an original designer lawn on lesser prices, head straight to Ranchhor line, Bolton Market, Jama Cloth Market, Allahwala Market or Ghulshan-e-iqbal Sunday market, provided you have the energy and heart to choose from the pile of cloth of various designer lawns.
The price there is 20 percent lesser compared to the malls and outlets, but not all designs or colours are available there so you have to choose from the available lot. The Pathan shopkeepers and vendors at Gulf Centre wait for the customers with their ‘imported’ varieties of clothes, so if you know the tricks of the trade and can bargain well, this is the place for you. A good bargainer may bring the price down to 40 to 50 percent of the cost initially mentioned by the shopkeeper and in some cases even more. For men who want to shop on a budget, Zainab market is the place, where factory outlets and other shops are piled up with trousers and shirts that have little or no defects.
Zaibunnisa Street at Saddar, Kurta Gali at Tariq Road, and Zamzama are other such main shopping attractions for men, for instance, Kurta Gali at Tariq Road offers a variety of brands and outlet ranging from almost all the top names , to medium and small outlets. The quality and reliability remains a key features at Kurta Gali. Markets at Tariq Road and Bahadurabad cater to every income group. It has malls, superstores, shops, outlets,mithai walas, etc.
Above all, bangles and mehndi (henna) being the integral part of Eid dressing are abundantly available. Bumper-to-bumper traffic can be seen on Tariq Road and Bahadurabad during Ramadan with people from all walks of life buying, enjoying and giving a clear indication that the residents are eagerly waiting for the Eid celebration.
By By Azhar Afridi
great thanks for shring