One thing that leaps to the eye in Kathmandu is the abundance of tiny shops on the ground floors of most roadside residential buildings. It is amazing that most such outlets, which are in close proximity to each other, seem to be selling the same range of items. Under these circumstances, the profitability of these enterprises is debatable.
Historically, Kathmandu’s most preferred venue to buy food grains and spices has been Ason. As such, many people who are now living in the outskirts are compelled by habit to go through the hustle and bustle of Ason, especially for tihar. Ason gets its hub like status due to the convergence of six core city arteries. Ason’s environment is characterized by the open space in the centre, which is in contrast to the uncomfortably narrow streets leading into it. It is further cluttered by the elevated dabalis and Annapurna temple at the corner. With people moving constantly in every direction, it is not an easy place to be in during rush hours.
GOINDIA.ABOUT.COM
A typical Ason outlet measures barely 4 feet in length and is not much wider, where the shopkeeper is usually more perched than seated. While shoppers stand on the pavement outside to bargain, the shopkeeper rarely needs to stand, as most items are within reach of his arms. With every nook and cranny occupied by permanent shopkeepers, the vegetable vendors settle for patches of the pavement in the mornings and evenings. Basantapur and Mangalbazar used to be lively vegetable markets until they were moved to sheds at Ranamukteswor and Doubahal under the Nagar Yojana program. While the market at Patan still survives, the one on Basantapur, built on Guthi Sansthan property, has long been displaced by “RS shopping complex”. Left with no choice, the vegetable vendors now clog the roads surrounding RS.
While business is brisk in the core area, the same cannot be said of retail outlets elsewhere. The retail patterns in the surrounding regions merely follow the roads’ ribbon like extensions. But such extensions have very small populations. As long as the shop does not do well, the property owner cannot get good returns from the tenant shopkeeper. On the other hand, the owner, on his own, can run the outlet supported by his family. This naturally saves rent and salary pay-offs and many Kathmandu outlets are still run this way.
A big change in retail scene was when Hotels built in mid 70s were converted into shopping venues when tourist numbers fell. They were also unable to compete with better and cheaper hotels that came along. These new shopping venues were like departmental stores, where once in, the shopper has no reason to go elsewhere. Departmental stores buy in bulk at cheaper rates and transfer some of their gains to shoppers. Once you step in, they use a variety of non-intrusive methods in boosting your desire for the items on display. No one frowns at you as you examine or try things first hand, and no one forces you to buy anything either. The salespersons know that once smitten, you will be back! But though these stores provided the convenience of everything under one roof, they were expensive. Hence, Nepali departmental stores were looked upon as expensive places to shop. Proper and custom built department stores are coming up slowly and becoming more popular by the day.
With the city getting bigger, the shopping trends have undergone a change as well. People prefer pre packaged and weighted items rather weighing and packing things themselves. Semi cooked items that only require reheating or boiling are popular, even though they are not nutritious. Busy life is the main reason behind these preferences, helped by an onslaught of appropriate advertisements. Talking of changing attitudes, Fridays have now morphed into mandated evenings for bars and restaurants. The number of eateries has grown substantially, but again, only a few are seen to be doing good business. Others, we hear, are happy being the respectable fronts for the unseen business of converting black money into white!
Shopping beyond one’s immediate vicinity is not possible without a vehicle, for which there has to be a safe and spacious parking area at the other end. While new shopping centres have pre planned parking provisions, it is the roadside outlets, including eateries, which create parking problems. Vehicles parked randomly constrict the flow of traffic and create jams. Due to wider roads, the prospect of renting shops will get more lucrative in the future. But most such properties have small open spaces in the front, and parking within the premises is usually not available. So, though they may be unwilling, people have to opt for haphazard road side parking!
The question is whether the PM driven demolition-cum-road-widening project will offer any solace to pedestrians and smoothen flow of vehicles, or will it just end up being “illegal parking made easy” on the extra street width? Given the lack of seriousness and monitoring, it is the latter scenario that we are most likely going to end up with. As such, the on-going road widening project is not going to bring in tangible benefits, notwithstanding the aspirations. No one can beat us in setting the highest possible goals, but again, we are also unmatched in making the lowest possible achievements!
harjyal@yahoo.com
Related story
Varied shopping choices this Dashain
-1773673205.webp)
-1200x560-1773818828.webp)
