Lock, stock and barren: Most shops shuttered, few open have scant biz

New Delhi: While Delhi government wants permission from the central government for shops in markets to operate on odd-even basis and for a third of stores in malls to also resume business, there has been a sluggish response to the reopening of specified commercial establishments after the Covid-19 lockdown was extended.
TOI visited some markets in Vasant Kunj, RK Puram, Kamla Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, GTB Nagar, Naraina, and Gandhi Nagar, among others, and found 70% of standalone shops permitted to resume operations lying closed.Traders cleaning their premises or idling with shutters half open expressed their view that the markets wouldn’t pick up for another three months for lack of customers, paucity of supplies and labour and the lingering fear of infection.
In Naraina, almost a quarter of the standalone establishments were open on Friday. Shoe seller Deepak Goyal in Naraina Vihar said, however, that all his workers had left and he had no one to service the customers. There’s also an undertone of fear in the locality, evident in rope barriers at all open shops and buyers and sellers transacting business from either side of a six-feet gap.
Usually crammed with people and vehicles, Kamla Nagar wore a deserted look on Friday. A tailor shop owner Mahesh Rathore instantly responded, “Yes, on Monday”, when asked if the shops would reopen at the end of the lockdown phase ending on Sunday, May 17. “The shops selling non-essential items are cleaning stocks left unattended after the sudden lockdown two months ago,” Rathore said.
His friend, a garments businessman, optimistically explained, “Right now only essential items are permitted to be sold, so customers come with the minimum requirements. But when non-essential items begin selling, the footfall will increase. Even if the market gets a tenth of normal clientele in the first three weeks, shops will be able to earn at least enough pay employee salaries,” he said.
But his enthusiasm wasn’t shared by businesses already open. Eateries, for instance, are doing poorly. A manager of a restaurant in GTB Nagar reported, “Despite advertising our takeaway offers, orders have gone down by half. People don’t feel comfortable buying food from outside. Also, due to the cash crisis, they spending less on services like ours.”
Standalone stores too are mostly shut. Mahmud, owner of Upkar Tailors on Outer Ring Road, did open shop a week ago, but realised there was little to do. “What can customers down when cloth markets are shut and buses are not plying? Only when everything is open will work pick up,” he reasoned.
Despite the growing heat, fans and desert coolers don’t have too many takers either. On Delhi Cantt Road, cooler seller Shiv Narayan felt people were still wary of leaving their homes. “By this time, I would have sold 100 coolers at least. This year, I have sold less than 10 units. It will take me two years to recover my losses,” he said.
Things appeared better in places like Vasant Vihar, RK Puram Sector 1 and Munirka. Dev Narayan, head of security at Ansal Chambers at Bhikaji Cama Place, said, “Around 10% of the offices have opened. Things will return to normal.”