Entertainment zone, weekend business, Chaitra sales take a hit
Times of India | 7 April 2025
Kolkata: Be it at bars and restaurants or the shopping hubs in the city, the weekend business was affected with people avoiding the streets due to limited availability of public transport and traffic restrictions in view of Ram Navami on Sunday. Eateries and bars, in the food hub of Park Street, witnessed a sharp drop in footfall of customers during the Sunday lunch and Saturday dinner hours.
On an average, most of these outlets claimed to have witnessed 25%-30% drop in footfall. They also complained that even the Sunday evening turnout was lesser than usual days.
The president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India (HRAEI), Sudesh Poddar, who owns Songhay, Manthan, and MS Bar & Lounge, pointed out that many roads were closed in the city due to Ram Navami rallies, and barricades had been placed on some stretches. "So people were avoiding going to the restaurants," he said, estimating a 30% drop in footfall.
The owner of Peter Cat, Mocambo, and Peter Hu? Nitin Kothari also pointed out that there was not much queue outside his restaurants as it happens during any normal Sunday lunch. "Park Street was empty compared to a normal Sunday. There used to be a lot of crowd outside all my restaurants, but it was not much today (April 6)," he added. Sagar Daryanai, who has Wow! Momo and Wow China Diner in Park Street, agreed with Poddar and Kothari. "Footfall was less than a normal Sunday lunch, and even the evening seemed to be not very good. Both food and liquor sales were flat.
Usually, the beer sales go up during Sundays. But it was negligible this time," he added.
Anjan Chatterjee, chairman of Speciality Restaurants that owns brands like Mainland China, Café Mezunna, Oh! Calcutta, Haka, Bizarre Asia, also added that the crowd was less than any usual Sunday. "Yes, lunch was affected," he added. The owner of Magnolia, Waldorf, Charles Mantosh admitted that there was a marginal drop on Sunday, though he added that Saturday evening was not bad.
The director of Chowman, Oudh 1590 & Chapter 2, Debaditya Chaudhury, said, "This Ram Navami witnessed a decline in the sales. A major impact was seen across different cities. Kolkata too witnessed a subtle drop down mostly because of traffic and restrictions in certain places. We are pretty confident that it will soon match up in the next two days.
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Besides these outlets, the shopping zones in Gariahat and Hatibagan also took a hit. With about a week left to usher in ‘Poila Baisakh' (Bengali New Year) celebrations, these markets usually teem with shoppers, trying to make the most of ‘Chaitra Sale' and its lucrative discounts, around this time of the year.
But transport hurdles compelled many of these shoppers to stay indoors, claimed the street vendors. Prabhat Das, a member of the Shyambazar-Hatibagan Hawkers' Union, said, "The market was largely empty as many people avoided coming out, fearing trouble on Ram Navami.
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The same picture was seen at Gariahat and New Market. Suman Saha, joint secretary of the Gariahat Indira Hawkers' Union, said, " During this Chaitra sale season, we get maximum customers on Sundays.
" He wished the markets to draw crowd by Sunday evening.