Extra hour to firm up supply line, say stall owners at Kolkata markets

KOLKATA: Vegetable and fruit vendors, meat sellers and fishmongers in markets are happy to get an additional hour for business from Tuesday, as they can now operate from 7am to 11am instead of the earlier 10am. Grocery shops will be allowed to stay open from 7am to 6pm.
The short business hours posed a challenge for the supply line, said sellers. “We brought a small quantity of vegetables so that nothing would go waste.Now, vendors can bring more vegetables for the extra morning hour,” said Barisha Bazar Vegetable Vendors’ Association secretary Manas Das.

“The revised timings will help ease supply bottlenecks. In the existing schedule, it was difficult to get the stocks replenished. The business window being limited to only three hours, we had to cater to customers and handle the suppliers as well. This led to some stocks running out fast and people returning empty handed. But the 7am to 6pm timeline will now resolve this issue,” said a Behala grocery store owner. Another shop owner said, “In the 7am-10am slot, we were facing difficulty as suppliers never came so early in the morning.”
Gariahat market retailers felt relived at the extension of the window for business. “We could hardly sell things as it was only three hours to build stock and to sell them. Now, we can do some business with seven hours in hand,” said Biren Ghosh, a member of the Gariahat Retailers’ Association.
Store owners in New Market were happy that their timings had been extended as it would be better than the “open-and-shut” affair of earlier three hours. “We have asked our staff to join, with the promise of vaccination,” said Vinay Mangalani, a member of New Market Traders’ Association. The KMC has promised its market associations that vaccination on wheels will go and ensure all the employees who join afresh are inoculated. But many fear the absence of public transport might pose a commute challenge for the staff and act as a deterrent for customers to visit. “Many of my staff stay far away and will not be able to join without public transport. I am arranging for a car pool,” said Mangalani. “Many of us will ask our family members to help out,” said Sunil Aswani, a store owner.
New Market embarked on a mega sanitation programme immediately after the announcement. “Some owners did not open shops given the short window. Now, everyone is like to join the trade,” said Arup Basak, committee member of New Market Tenants’ & Traders’ Committee.
Very little business had been taking place, rued store owners at Hatibagan and Sovabazar. Most would buy their staples and leave by 10am and not go to other stores that would open from noon to 3pm, they said.