Patnaites are on shopping spree

PATNA: Dhanteras is an auspicious occasion for purchasing news things, they say. And Patnaites are there in the market to prove this popular belief correct as a large number of them are on a buying spree.

From cars to mobikes, from houses to household items, from jewellery to utensils, they are buying it all, keeping the city traders busy.

The mood of the Patnaites can be gauged from the fact that one of the city car showrooms has cancelled leave of its employees as it has to deliver more than 370 vehicles on Dhanteras day.

Yet another vehicle showroom has stopped taking bookings for the day as it is unable to cope with the orders already placed for the occasion. “We have orders for delivering 182 vehicles on the auspicious day, but due to short supply from the company the showroom would be able to deliver just 120-odd vehicles,” said one of the officials of the showroom.

Adding to this vehicle buying spree is the special loan mela of a nationalised bank which is giving vehicle loans to customers at concessional rates. The warm response from customers is there for every one to see as in all 276 vehicle loans were sanctioned till Tuesday evening.

If vehicles dealers are reaping a rich harvest, the jewellery shops too have come up with innovative ideas to cater to the needs of customers keeping the soaring prices of gold in mind. “We have come up with a wide range of light weight jewellery as gold prices are at all time high,” said Manish Gupta, owner of one of the leading jewellery shops of the city. He said special rebate offer is also there to attract more customers.

Yet another jewellery shop owner, who requested anonymity, said market has already gathered the momentum and the sale was likely to double on the Dhanteras day. Many banks too have joined this race. State Bank of India and Corporation Bank have come out with gold coins of 2 grams and 5 grams for the occasion.

There is also a rush for consumer durables and if company officials are to be believed, there has been a three-fold increase in the sale figures of items like television, washing machine, fridge and other consumer durables. This is at a time when some big players of the field are not giving any special discount.