Businesses across the globe bore the brunt of the
pandemic
and incurred never-seen-before
losses
. However, as economies started reopening after the lockdown, several industries began to show green shoots of recovery. However, not everyone is back in business. With
schools
mostly
shut
since more than a year now, uniform sellers and manufacturers have been among the worst hit and continue to suffer unbearable losses. While some are struggling to cope with the tragic turn of events, many have used their entrepreneurial skills to diversify their business to keep up with the times.
Rakesh Agarwal, who runs a shop in Garia that has been selling
school uniforms
for generations, told us, “We cater to four schools -- De Paul School, Future Campus School, BDMI and Better High School. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that a pandemic would hit us so badly that schools will close down for months on end, throwing us out of business.” He is sitting on huge unsold stocks worth over Rs 1.5 lakh, which are yet to be picked by vendors as they are also into wholesaling of school uniforms. “Though some schools have finally resumed
classes
for students of Class IX-XII, the sale of uniforms has not increased. If we hosted 100 customers a day before the pandemic, now that number is hardly four to five. Earlier, we would sell uniforms worth Rs 5,000-6,000 a day, which takes almost a month now,” said Rakesh, who has retained his employees, albeit with a salary cut. To keep the business afloat, he has started selling fancy clothes, which is a new experience for the businessman.
Echoing similar sentiments, Shibshankar Roy from a shop in Bagha Jatin that used to cater to schools like Garia Harimati Debi Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya, BD Memorial, Naktala High School, Swamiji Vidyapith and Boral High School, said, “Our sale of school uniforms used to be good all through the year, especially during this time when new sessions would commence. In winter, we would see a good demand for sweaters and blazers too. However, with online classes becoming the new normal, our business has hit rock bottom.” Last year, the lockdown was declared just before the new sessions begin in the month of April. Therefore, Shibshankar’s godown is filled with all the unsold uniforms from 2020. “Despite placing orders, retailers are refusing to collect their garments and pay us, as there is no demand for school uniforms yet. I have unsold material worth nearly Rs 2 lakh. I’m facing a severe cash crunch and there’s no way I can start anything new until the existing stocks are sold. After the recent directive of Classes IX-XII resuming school, only five to six pairs of uniforms have been sold. I don’t know how am I going to run my family if the situation doesn’t improve,” he added.
The shop that makes school uniforms for all the Loreto schools has now started selling womenswear to survive. “The worst part is parents who placed orders with us last year have still not come to receive their uniforms. We called them several times to collect their orders and clear our dues, but they seem to be disinterested,” said Aruna Roy from the tailoring shop in Park Circus. From eight tailors before COVID, they have now reduced their workforce to just two workers now. “We are operating at a loss ever since this crisis struck us. To keep our bread and butter going, we’ve now started making salwar-kameez for women,” added Aruna.
Varun Solanki, who was into the manufacturing of fabrics and garments used for making school uniforms, was forced to start a new vertical within the textile industry after the pandemic. “The reality is that we still have a crore to receive from clients, which is due for more than a year now. We are sitting on inventories worth Rs 1 crore. So, I had no option but to switch to another business because I am not too optimistic about schools reopening for all anytime soon,” he said. During the initial months of the pandemic, Varun utilised his knowledge and capacity to manufacture PPE kits, the demand for which started declining by August. “After that we started manufacturing boxers that are being marketed directly to the consumers," added the businessman from Mumbai.
Subir Saha, a salesman from a Gariahat shop that is popular for selling school uniforms to students of South Point, Don Bosco, St Xavier's Collegiate School, St Lawrence High School, La Martiniere, DPS (Ruby Park) and Garden High, is a little hopeful about sales going up this year. He said, “When the lockdown began last year, it wasn’t mandatory for students to wear uniforms while attending online classes. However, a few months later, uniforms became mandatory and that is when we started selling a few pairs. Honestly, parents don’t want to invest in school uniforms for online classes as much as they used to for physical classes.” However, with Classes IX-XII now being allowed to do offline classes, Subir’s sale has increased marginally. “In South Point, different classes have different kinds of uniforms, so we are getting a decent amount of orders from there. With new sessions starting soon, parents are now buying class-specific uniforms. But the financial crunch is still far from over as last year’s business was horrible and it has just started to pick up this year. ”
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