Be it a khaja ghar owner, a grocer, a readymade clothes seller, or a street vendor, everyone was waiting for customers. Many of them were playing games on their mobile phones, some were chatting with fellow shopkeepers, many were dozing off, while a few were calling passersby in a desperate bid to sell their goods.
Many owners of these outlets have been finding it hard to pay the rent, leave alone make a decent profit. Delayed rental payment has become quite common. A message displayed on a landlord’s cellphone highlights the hardship thus: “We will probably transfer it (the rent) to your account this week. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience.” A brief conversation on the phone between the landlord and the tenant makes it amply clear that none of the tenants pay the rent on time. High price rise in the market Rameshwor Raam (60), a shoemaker from Sarlahi, Bagmati Municipality, has been making a living in this city for more than 30 years. Raam says eking out a living has never felt this difficult. Market prices have spiraled up, but customers need the services at earlier rates, he observes: People bargain hard…. They need to know that things have become really expensive. “Profit margins are quite low. But what option do I have other than carrying on with this profession despite a meager income? Plan for closure Shyam Shrestha (40) runs a Newari Khaja Ghar at Shantinagar. He says daily income from his business has declined after the coronavirus pandemic. “Before the pandemic, the daily earning used to be about 10-15000 per day. Now, it has gone down to Rs 4,000/day,” Shrestha says. “The situation of the country is not good. A conducive investment climate is lacking. There’s no certainty that your investment will yield profit. Market prices have been skyrocketing making it difficult to run a business.” Shrestha, who returned home after working abroad for six years, thinks he won’t be able to give continuity to his business if the situation does not improve. What is the way out then? Heading abroad, once again. That’s what Shrestha has been thinking about, of late. “One has to take care of their family, educate their children, raise them properly…. These are not normal times…. With rising costs of living, things are getting really tough here.” Many people like Shrestha have returned to the country over the years, only to find the going tougher here. After working abroad for 14 years, Raju Dhakal (33) returned home with the aim of doing something within the country. He set up a retail shop—Jamuna Store—at Budhanilkantha. But the going has not been easy for Dhakal, what with the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis. With the business hardly making any profit, the youth has made up his mind to sell the shop and move to Dubai. “I had planned to upgrade my shop as a wholesale store. But a grim economic situation has spoiled the plan. The business has gone down so much that I am finding it hard even to pay the rent,” Dhakal laments. ‘Shops on sale’ notices make it amply clear that a lot of shopkeepers in the city are trying hard to sell their shops for want of profit.
