Tradition trumped the economic downturn in the capital at least on Dhanteras, with shoppers in thousands hitting the streets with gusto after the rain let up around 3pm on Friday.

It was difficult to drive on Main Road and its alleys which were chock-a-block with people. Whether be it be shops selling kitchen utensils or vehicle showrooms or jewellery shops, crowds could be seen making the cash registers ring.

“We have so far sold 150 vehicles and people are still coming. Last year we had sold just 120 on Dhanteras,” said Anil Pandey, sales manager of Prateek Automobile, a showroom of Mahindra vehicles on Old HB Road.

Parmeshwar Gorai, manager of Sudha Motors, a Maruti Suzuki showroom, echoed the sentiment.

“The way customers are coming we think we can cross the last year’s Dhanteras sale figure of 115. However, I noticed that most of the buyers so far coming to the showroom are government employees,” Gorai said.

Mohamed Ismael, proprietor of Bharat Electronics, one of the biggest electronic goods shops of the city, said festive shopping generally beats any downturn.

“People prepare for a long time for purchasing on the occasion of festivals. As Dhanteras is supposed to be an auspicious occasion for purchasing one cannot expect a slow market,” he said.

“There was some slowdown due to the rain but when the showers stopped people came out. I hope the boom in the market continues for two more days. I have observed 40 percent growth in my business this month. Today (Friday) sales were down by half but I expect that it will be compensated by tomorrow or day after tomorrow,” said Ismael, who has been in the business for 30 years.

Gandori Ganjhu, a CCL employee who bought a Swift Dzire from Sudha Motors, supported Ismael’s observation.

“Our purchasing is not the result of one-day wish. I saved for four years to buy my dream car,” said Ganjhu.

Jeweller Gopal Soni, proprietor of Gopal Gahna in Harmu, said Dhanteras had brought much-needed relief.

“For the last three hours customers are streaming in,” Soni said around 7.30pm on Friday. “I was worried two days ago observing the dull market but today I am not. I hope I will be able to make up for the sluggish business by late night. Bazaar mein raunak laut aya hai (the shine has returned to the market).”

Santosh Narayan, chief administrator of the Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce and Industries, agreed that tradition trumped the downturn, at least on Friday.

“In Dhanteras there is a tradition of purchasing some item. Thus crowd was obvious as when tradition comes in way rules of economics don’t work,” he said, laughing.

Coal town blues

Dhanteras sales were, however, slashed by nearly half in Dhanbad on Friday, with retailers citing the economic downturn, competition from online portals, and the rains.

“Sales are down by more than 50 per cent this year as customers kept waiting during the first half of the day for rain to stop,” said Rajesh Kumar Gupta, president of Federation of Dhanbad Zilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Though the situation improved slightly during the second half of the day as the rain stopped, but sales have not crossed half of last year’s figure.”

Dhanbad witnesses business worth around Rs 350 crore during Dhanteras but this year the sale was around Rs 175 crore.

Sharad Dudani, owner of Guru Kripa Auto, a Hero bikes outlet, said: “Though the advance booking of around 498 bikes was almost same compared to last year but due to rains the spot sale or counter sale was less by around 20 per cent compared to last year.”

The worst-affected were FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and electronic appliances and furniture. Jewellery, automobiles and utensils, however, saw a more marginal decline of 15 to 20 per cent.

Amit Sahu, owner of Sahu Electronics in Jharia, said, “We were bracing for the worst but the market picked up during the evening. Sales were, however, less than 40 per cent of last year. We sold around 48 TV sets, compared to around 120 last year.”

Deepak Modi, owner of Basuki Communication, said: “Compared to 200 high-end phones last year, we could sell only 130 this year.”

Jeweller Vishal Rastogi, owner of Johri Bazar, said sales were down by 10 per cent compared to last year.