Buyers throng roadside warm clothing shops in city

Talha Bin Habib After going through the initial period of dullness, the sales of winter clothes in the capital shot up Sunday due to a sudden rise in intensity of the mild cold wave sweeping across the country. In order to protect themselves from the chilling bite of cold during the ongoing Bengali winter month of 'Poush', buyers have started thronging different sales points, both at upscale markets and open-air roadside shops, to purchase warm clothes, according to traders. Usually, the average temperature in the capital during the month of 'Poush' ranges between 14 and 16 degree Celsius. The lowest temperature in the capital Sunday was 13.0 degree Celsius, while the lowest in the country was in Dinajpur at 9.7 degree Celsius, according to the Met office. A couple of cold waves may envelop the country during the last week of December 2011, an official at the Met office preferring anonymity told the FE yesterday (Sunday). Customers, mainly from the fixed income groups, crowded different roadside makeshift shops in Gulistan, Ramna Bhaban, Baitul Mukarram, Purana Paltan, Dainik Bangla intersection and Farmgate areas to buy warm clothes, mainly the second-hand ones coming from developed countries. But to the disappointment of many, different types of pullovers, sweaters, jackets and coats were selling at higher prices than in the past at the shops on the footpaths. Most of the customers in the capital have said they have no option but to pay the increased prices of these clothes because hesitation will only add to their sufferings. Traders have said they were selling different sizes of winter-wears at a rate earning only a 'marginal profit'. On Sunday, the second-hand sweaters of different sizes were selling at between Tk 350 and Tk 450, the price of which ranged from Tk 250 to Tk 300 in the past week. Jackets sold between Tk 500 and Tk 650, which were selling at Tk 350 and Tk 400 a few days back. Different sizes of second-hand coats were selling between Tk 800 and Tk 1,000 which sold at Tk 400 to Tk 500 just a week ago, said a trader in the GPO area. "I've come here to buy sweaters for my family members. But the prices are higher compared to the previous year's," Abdur Rashid, a private firm employee, told the FE in the area on the day. "I sell different sizes of second-hand sweaters with a profit margin of around Tk 50 a piece," Haroon, a warm clothes seller in the Baitul Mukarram area, told the FE.