A disappointing Akshaya Tritiya for jewellers
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Akshaya Tritiya, thought of an auspicious day, witnessed subdued exercise on Friday because the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened the spirits of individuals for the second consecutive yr.
Gold retailers stated with Akshaya Tritiya falling within the lockdown/curfew interval for two successive years, the gold and jewelry commerce suffered an enormous setback. Consumer demand, as in comparison with earlier years, nosedived. Stores had been both closed or operated solely for a couple of hours as a result of restrictions in place.
“The sales were weak due to the challenging environment in 2020. The same thing repeated this year too as there is a State-wide curfew. The physical demand for gold remains muted,” stated Krishna, a jewelry store proprietor.
The retailers had been allowed to speak in confidence to 11 a.m. solely. People don’t enterprise out to purchase gold proper on the daybreak. Though the retailers had been opened by 6 or 7 a.m., there have been no patrons, rued one other store proprietor at Patamata.
According to info, there are about 1,000 gold, silver and jewelry retailers in Vijayawada. Across the State, there are about 50,000 small jewelry retailers with every day gross sales working into a couple of thousand crores.
Business was boring for small and petty merchants whereas a reasonable rush was witnessed at some company jewelry retailers. “It is very difficult to assess the impact right now. Shops usually maintain stocks ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore which further go up during wedding season and occasions like Akshaya Tritiya as demand shoots up. But now jewellers are afraid to keep new models and stocks in view of the adverse market conditions,” stated a jeweller.
The Bezwada Jewellery and Bullion Merchants’ Association secretary K. Hari Babu stated that the gold and jewelry retailers had been observing self-restrictions even earlier than the partial lockdown was imposed. “It is the corporate and big jewellery shops that usually see good sales during Akshaya Tritiya. When the concept was introduced, small traders also witnessed rush. But the trend gradually declined,” he added.
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