Cycle sales soar in Jaipur, stocks run out in most stores

JAIPUR: At a time when most trade and business establishments are unable to attract customers, the cycle mart at Kishanpole Bazaar in Walled City with more than 30 shops have been doing brisk business, thanks to people’s interest for bicycles for maintaining fitness.
TOI on Sunday spoke to various traders at Vaishali Nagar, Ridhi Sidhi and Kishanpole Bazaar and found that such is the demand for cycles that traders are unable to meet it.
Shopkeepers said the rush started immediately after the market opened in the first week of June. Most shopkeepers said they had seen an increase of at least 40% in business.
“Prior to the lockdown in January and February, we were selling five to six bicycles per day. However, since June, when markets opened, we have witnessed a rise of 50%,” said Abdul Wahid, a wholesale trader of bicycles at Kishanpole Bazaar.
“Roads stay empty these days. We have decided to start cycling in the mornings and evenings. I will buy one for myself and one for my 16-year-old son,” said Vikas Jain, a secretariat employee, who came with his friend Deen Bandhu Pandit.
Such was the demand for bicycles that many shops in Kishanpole Bazaar got their stock exhausted by middle of June.
“That was the time when we were selling almost 20 bicycles per day. It led to an acute shortage of bicycles. In July, we procured more goods. I think people of every age are coming to us. Parents who had earlier visited us to buy cycles for their sons and daughters are coming to buy it for themselves,” said Mohit Chawla, a shopkeeper at Kishanpole Bazaar.
Traders said since gyms are closed and initially parks were also closed, people found a bicycle a viable option. “We have bicycles in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 13,000,” said Harmit Singh, a bicycle trader in Jhotwara.