CHENNAI: The attention surrounding the sealing of shops in T Nagar has had an adverse impact on businesses there, according to traders. The sealing drive by the Chennai Corporation and the ensuing protests by the employees of the store have given customers an illusion that all stores in the shopping hub have been sealed. That, traders say, is the reason for footfalls in general to have fallen drastically since the sealing.November 30. The date has become something of a mantra among those who work on Ranganthan Street. That is the day the matter comes up in court. Many express hope that the matter will be resolved then, so that the stores can be opened in time for the shopping rush for the wedding season from mid-January. But for now, they are clear that the opportunity of doing business, in the rush to buy things before the Tamil month of Margazhi, has been lost.“A lot of people are under the impression that Ranganathan Street has been shut down completely, that all shops have been sealed. A majority of the stores are still open. Going by the standards on a normal day, Ranganathan Street has been looking deserted in recent times,” says Govindasamy, the manager of a big jewellery store. “Earlier, you normally cannot stand here and look down to see the street. You would probably get swept away by the crowd,” he adds.“There is barely any business. At this rate, our employers won’t be able to pay all our salaries to us for long,” says an attendant at the store, pointing to his colleagues sitting idle behind the counters.“Business has fallen to 30 percent of what it usually is at this time of the year,” says Muthaiah, a store hand at a leading utensils and household appliances store. “We have had to bring in stocks from our other branches and rearrange the space in our functioning branches. I just feel I am standing around idle all day,” he adds.The shutdown has not just affected the big stores, but even the street hawkers. “It is true. The number of people passing through here has fallen drastically. If people are not going to come here looking for a bargain, there is no way we can make a sale. Our margins are low, so we don’t have much by way of saving. We are in for hard times if things don’t take a turn for the better,” says Vajravel, as he arranged his watches in neat rows.
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