Business slow at Tanah Abang, Glodok<\/p>\n
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Five days after the Idul Fitri holidays, business was still
\nsluggish in Tanah Abang and Glodok on Friday. More shops were
\nopen but few buyers visited the usually busy business centers.<\/p>\n
Normally, it is difficult to move along the alleys of Tanah
\nAbang's three-story market building in Central Jakarta as people
\nand merchandise are packed into every available space.<\/p>\n
Traffic around the wholesale market was not as congested as
\nusual as not many private cars parked or trucks stopped to load
\nor unload merchandise in the street.<\/p>\n
\"Most traders are not expecting to be busy during these days
\nbecause their customers have not yet reopened for business.
\nTraders here mainly serve the wholesale market for retailers who
\ncome from throughout the country,\" Abdurrahman, a shop attendant
\nat a curtain and clothes shop, said.<\/p>\n
The retail market is also served but it is not that
\nsignificant.<\/p>\n
After his shop opened at around 8 a.m. until it closed in the
\nlate afternoon, there were only two or three visitors to his
\nshop, which was located on the first floor.<\/p>\n
Traders predicted that business would return to normal after
\nthe New Year, when retailers wanted to renew their stocks.<\/p>\n
\"Still, we have to open our shop just in case people want to
\nshop here. Although only one or two items might be sold, that's
\ngood enough,\" said a man who has worked for more than 15 years as
\na shop attendant.<\/p>\n
Big traders can take slow business into account, but the
\nhardest hit (by the long holidays) were the parking attendants at
\nthe shopping center.<\/p>\n
Normally, said the parking attendants, they could take around
\nRp 100,000 per day and, after deductions, as a portion had to be
\nremitted to the City Parking Agency, they would be left with
\nabout Rp 30,000 per day -- an amount that still had to be divided
\namong several people.<\/p>\n
\"After Lebaran (Idul Fitri) Rp 10,000 a day is very good. We
\nget less than that these days and spend it all on food and
\ncigarettes,\" a parking attendant complained.<\/p>\n
On the other side of town at Harco, the shopping center for
\nelectronic goods in Glodok, West Jakarta, many shops were open
\nbut only some enjoyed good business.<\/p>\n
Many visitors went straight past the first floor of the
\nshopping center, where most of the shops sold television sets and
\nstereos, as they went directly to the second floor to browse
\nvarious electronic games and other equipment.<\/p>\n
Meimei, owner of Jumbo Games shop, said that in the last two
\ndays, many parents had come to buy Playstation or its accessories
\nfor their children.<\/p>\n
\"I've hardly had any time at all to sit down as many people
\nhave shopped here, mostly parents with their children. I think
\nthis is because it is just after Idul Fitri and children have a
\nlot of money so they ask their parents to bring them here,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A game set, which included two joysticks and 10 free game-CDs,
\nwas priced Rp 1,050,000.<\/p>\n
She acknowledged that the trade in television sets, stereos
\nand computers was really slow at present.<\/p>\n
\"For such goods, it also very much depends on the (US) dollar
\nexchange rate,\" she said, adding that her parents also owned a
\nshop selling television sets in the complex.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/business-slow-at-tanah-abang-glodok-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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