VIJAYAWADA: The prolonged closure of schools and colleges has hit the sellers of school bags hard in Vijayawada. Sellers, especially small scale, have incurred loss of over 70 per cent when compared to last year. “Till last year, the sale of school bags used to start from March itself as some schools start early. But this year it is only this week that customers started visiting the stalls,” said Gangadhar, a seller. He said that prior to the beginning of the academic year, from March-end to June first week, he used to earn around Rs 1,000 per day. Now, this has reduced to Rs 350.
The sales have dropped drastically for ladies’ office bags too. “As offices remained closed during lockdown, not many customers came to buy handbags. Even during summer, which is one of the peak seasons for us, we could not sell many products,” he added.
Further, the stationery sellers have also suffered some losses. Srikant, who has a stationery shop in the city, said that though the sale has not dropped drastically, the income has reduced by 25 to 30 per cent. “The products that we sell are needed by everyone and not just limited to school students. But yes, new academic year is always a bonus for us,” he said.
With schools set to reopen from tomorrow, Gangadhar hopes to earn better income. “The schools are starting now. But from what we hear, not all students are attending classes. We hope that after Diwali festival or at least from New Year, we start getting good business,” hoped Gangadhar.