High prices hit sale of flags, badges and banners
Last year sale of such material was much higher owing to reduced prices while this year sale of flags, stickers, paper flags, badges, children suits, etc., has declined enormously owing to high prices and limited purchasing power of the people, traders said.
They informed that there was an overall estimated sale of Rs10 million in Karachi this year as compared to over Rs15 million of last year.
Bulk of the buying was made by children, thanks to the holding of Independence Day celebrations in schools. However, purchases by political parties and their activists, private companies and individuals remained comparatively low this year.
Owner of VIP Flags, Sheikh Nisar Ahmed, told Dawn that he had sold around 100,000 flags of the size of 36x54 inches in 2007 as compared to only 60,000 this year.
On Wednesday, Hassan Ali Affandi Road (Paper Market area) wore a festive look with a huge rush of people who were there to celebrate the 14th August with tremendous zeal and fervour.
When asked that the way the people had taken Hassan Ali Affandi Road by storm portrayed a different story, he said that 90 per cent of them were window shoppers.
The real buyers did not lift items in higher quantities this year due to rising cost of living amid surging food prices and other expenses.
He said lack of interest among political parties and from government’s side can also be blamed for poor response of people this year.
Nisar said this year response from town nazims, who used to make bulk purchases for decorating their areas, had been missing.
Last year, he added he had sold around 600-700 flags as compared to only 100-150 flags this year which were mainly purchased by only North Nazimabad, Shah Faisal, Baldia and Liaquatabad towns. The lukewarm response from towns was mainly because of lack of funds.
He said that the cost of production this year had increased manifold owing to increase in prices of cloth and paper.
Mushtaq Khan, who runs an advertising agency at Al-Karam Square, said lack of interest among political parties and companies had generated a negligible business for screen printers of national flags and banners on this Independence Day.
A majority of the work was seen in readymade flags of mainly small sizes whose major buyers were students of schools where Independence Day celebrations were planned on Aug 14, he said.
He claimed that hardly two per cent of screen printing business was recorded due to lack of enthusiasm among political parties and even among small to big private sector companies.
He said despite the fact that the city government had waived tax for displaying flags and banners on main streets, private companies and political parties did not respond positively this year.
He recalled that some two years back, purchase orders from his clients were around 50 per cent for screen printing of flags and banners because of competition among them. Currently the competition among political parties and even residents of the area was lacking.
“The 14th August celebrations used to kick off much earlier and even it was hard to find an appropriate place for displaying flags on polls. Now electricity polls are virtually empty,” he added.
Retailers in various areas said that cloth and paper flag prices had surged and sales this year did not pick as expected after the takeover by the new government.