Small businesses in Mylapore have started feeling the impact of the lockdown. They have been affected due to low footfalls. Consequently, the owners say they are facing financial problems now.
Juice World, at P.S. Sivaswamy Salai, is one such shop that has been affected. The shop that offers sandwiches and a range of fresh juice opened in early March on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Says Bhairavi Dineshkumar, the owner of the shop, “As soon as we opened, we received a good response for the first two weeks. Our faloodas and sandwiches were a hit among the children. But since the lockdown was implemented, the footfalls have been low.”
Bhairavi says that they are facing difficulties in paying EMI, rentals and salaries. “We have no idea how we will pay EMI, rentals and salaries for our staff.”
Though the Tamilnadu government has allowed food takeaways, people opting for juice or sandwiches in these times is rare. So we are working only for limited hours to provide takeaways (only bulk orders minimum 15), she says.
Abhyuday Purkayastha, owner of a quick eats joint in C.P.Ramaswamy Road, Alwarpet too says his business has been hit following lockdown.”Sales have been suffered for the past one month. As the end of the financial year is close, we are facing issues in paying rent, salaries and taxes.”
