KOCHI: Broadway, the city’s busiest retail street where one can buy anything from garments to toys, books to antique items, and spices to bicycles, is reeling from the after effects of the abrupt currency note ban with sales plunging as much as 50 per cent in the one month since the announcement on November 8.
Ninety per cent of the Broadway vendors are retail dealers, who conduct their business purely on cash and it will take some time for them to move towards ‘digital transactions’, say traders. Right from the 20th century, Broadway has been a throbbing business hub, attracting traders and customers to the city. The shoppers have been slowly shifting their allegiance to the big shopping malls such as Lulu Mall, Centre Square and Oberon Mall. But the note ban has has dealt the mortal blow, they say.
“Broadway has more than 500 shops and is situated in the heart of the city. On an average we have a turnover of Rs 5 crore per month. But after demonetisation, the sales dropped to 40 per cent. Christmas and New Year sales will be badly affected by this announcement,” says P A Sajeer, president of Broadway Shop Owners’ Association.
The unorganised small traders in the retail segment are the ones who have been affected the most. Demonetisation has visibly reduced the footfalls in the small retail shops, and the credit or debit card users have moved on to the shopping malls because these vendors don’t have swiping machines or Point of Sale, says Sajeer.
The majority of these small vendors are from different parts of South India. Since 90 per cent of them are uneducated, they don’t even know how to do online transaction.
Swapna Clothes run by Thejas Maheswar, a vendor from Maharashtra, who migrated to Kerala eight years ago, admits that the sales have dropped to half and the situation is getting worse. It’s not that the traders do not support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to unearth black money. “The scrapping of high value notes will put a brake on black money,” agrees P O M Ibrahim, vice president of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi.
However, he adds, “But the government took action without putting in place measures to counter the after-effects. Small retailers are frustrated because they cannot even meet their daily needs.” The likes of Flipkart and Amazon have benefited from the cash crunch this festive season. “Small shops are not ready to tread the digital path. Hence they have lost business this festival season,” says Ibrahim.
S Solomon, owner of A S Paper Mart, was hoping to cash in on the upcoming New Year celebrations by selling a good number of dairies and calendars. “The sale of items like New Year diaries and calendar have dropped by a half,” he says.
Nizamudeen Azad, a cloth vendor from Assam, who has been in Broadway for more than six years, supports PM Modi’s decision despite the pain and hardships. “It is true that we are suffering a lot due to demonetisation. Our sales have dropped. But I hope demonetisation will help bring in transparency in the long run.”