AMMAN — Shopping during
Eid Al-Fitr represented a needed boost
for merchants, who reported increased sales. According to the owners of
clothing stores, the holiday represented a glimmer of hope that they will be
able to compensate their losses resulting from the
pandemic.
اضافة اعلان
Clothing stores owners and employees speaking to
Jordan News
said that they need to work every day the way they did in eid just to
compensate 30 percent of their losses. They have significantly suffered from
lack of foot traffic, a limitation on working hours, and a drop in purchasing
power throughout the pandemic.
“I cannot say that things were not better in eid,” one
clothing store owner said to
Jordan News. “People came by my store to buy
clothes they need for eid, but that is not enough. This current situation is
temporary - I do not expect it to last for too long.”
Another clothing store owner told
Jordan News that “You may
see that malls are filled with people, but that’s not the real case as people
come for ‘window shopping’ even in eid. Their priorities are different now,
they only buy what they need.”
The owner added that “I may close my store if things remain
like this. I do not blame people for not buying clothes as they are afraid from
tomorrow and they need to save money, but I do blame the government for not
easing its measures on them.”
“We in clothing stores reduced our prices so that we and
customers benefit during eid,” said an employee working for a clothing store in
one of
Swefieh’s popular malls. “I guess this worked, as people came and bought
what they needed for suitable prices, but we still cannot feel happy as we do
not know what the next days will hold for us.”
The employee added that “early night curfew hours had
destroyed us. The government decided to extend the curfew hours for eid and we
pray that this lasts forever. I believe that extending the hours will help us a
lot.”
In a previous interview, Munir Deyye, president of the
Textile and Readymade Clothes Syndicate, said that clothing stores’ profits
have dropped by almost 70 percent during the pandemic and subsequent safety
measures.
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