Business still slow in Tanah Abang

Business still slow in Tanah Abang

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta, the largest textile market
in Southeast Asia, was crowded on Wednesday on the first day of
the Ramadhan with customers shopping for Muslim clothing and the
attire worn during prayer.

But that does not mean that business was as good as last year,
said Oki, owner of Batik Lestari outlet located on the second
floor of the market building.

Last year, he said, customers had began making orders three
months before Ramadhan. Those buyers were from other cities,
mostly in West Java, Central Java and East Java provinces, who
asked him to send the merchandise immediately.

"We were constantly out of stock. This year, customers came
just days before the fasting month," Oki told The Jakarta Post.

He added that most of the customers ordered baju koko, long-
sleeved shirts for Muslim males.

He said he still could not predict whether his overall profits
would decrease in comparison to last year's.

But Eri, a retailer who runs several stalls on the market's
ground floor, complained of economic losses.

Last year he raked in some Rp 200,000 (some US$21) per day
selling mukenah (cloak covering women's head and body worn for
prayers), sajadah (prayer rugs), and Muslim gowns for women.

Now, however, he only sells on average, four mukenah a day,
less than half compared to last year.

"I thank God when I am able to profit just Rp 5,000 from the
price margin of each piece. Like today, I have made almost no
profit. The customers bargained for the lowest price," Eri
grumbled to the Post.

Visitors to Tanah Abang market are mostly from lower income
brackets.

Surya Irzam echoed Eri's complaints: "I have yet to sell
anything today. People want to pay prices that afford me no
profit."

The situation may worsen, Eri speculated, because usually the
price of the merchandise normally goes up by Rp 1,000 to Rp 2,000
per piece every week during the fasting month.

In previous years more and more customers bought Muslim
clothing to be worn at Idul Fitri celebrations in the last two
weeks of the fasting month.

E'en, a housewife from Krawang, West Java, bought several
mukenah and baju koko to be sold again to neighbors back in her
village.

"I come here every year... the price is reasonable and I think
the price is still the same," she told the Post.

The merchants have their own theories on what has led to the
slow business.

Eri speculated that it was due to the prolonged financial
crisis, which caused fewer buyers to come. While Oki considered
it to be a situation where customers chose not to spend much
during uncertain political and security conditions, instead
preferred to save for the worst to come by the year's end.

But Oki still has hope for brighter days ahead.

"It is common that the business is slow during the first three
days of the fasting month, but the sales will hopefully jump
after two weeks. So let's see," Oki said.