Ahead of the festival season, Erode’s textile market has seen a noticeable improvement in both retail and wholesale sales, and vendors are hopeful that business will be strong during Pongal.
Following Deepavali, sales at the city’s more than 3,000 textile stores briefly decreased before increasing last month. Winter material purchases were constant, according to a trader, while clothing sales for Christmas and New Year’s increased.
At the weekly market on Tuesday, traders from the southern districts of the state—Kanyakumari, Nagercoil, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli—showed up in force and bought a lot of clothes. With a large number of Andhra Pradeshi traders attending the market, the wholesale industry was booming.
Retail and wholesale sales were performing well, according to K. Selvaraj, president of the Erode Gani Market Weekly All Textile Merchants’ Association, who also told The Hindu that sales would increase in the days ahead. He pointed out that although yarn prices had stayed steady in recent months, clothing prices had not gone up.
Some businessmen, however, voiced worries that the upcoming byelection to the Erode (East) Assembly Constituency will have an impact on their business due to limitations on transporting cash. They were particularly concerned about the possible effects of the Union Budget 2025–2026, which might include adjustments to taxes that would have an effect on the textile industry.
