KOZHIKODE: In spite of the Onam and Bakrid festive season being on in full swing, no buyers seem to be excited about shopping. The reason is that there is no variety in fashion trends, designs and products. Due to the GST tangle, no merchants have manufactured or launched new products or designs, according to the wholesale and retail merchants here. The fashion that was launched in footwear, accessories and clothing during the Christmas, Eid and Vishu season has been repeated even for this festive season, which is considered as the busiest shopping season of the year. According to the sellers, they are experiencing the worst shopping season ever.
Talking to DC, Linu Shivan, a textile wholesale merchant in Kozhikode said, “The new tax structure has created a lot of tension among manufacturers because they have spent all their time sorting out the GST issue. This is the reason why the manufacturers have not thought of creating new designs and fashion.” Due to this reason, we are forced to repeat the same trend that existed before, till the GST issue is sorted out, he added.
“In the last one week we have repeatedly told customers seeking new trends that we have launched none,” said Salim NP, a retail textile owner at SM Street here. They had no other option than disappointing them by displaying the same old fashion in clothing that were shown to them during the previous season, he added. The textile, footwear and accessories are brought to different parts of the State from Gujarat, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu and some parts of Rajasthan and Orissa. The retail and wholesale sellers are a disappointed lot, and worse, it has also affected the small scale and large scale businesses here.
