JEDDAH: The last-minute rush to shopping malls, tailors and barbershops to prepare for the Eid Al-Fitr has increased traffic jams on all roads and streets in Jeddah.
Traffic jams were already a norm in Jeddah due to construction or repair activity in progress on many of the city’s arteries. Sitteen and Makarona streets are among the scenes of the worst traffic congestion in the past few months. Last night, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic on some of the busy streets, especially on Sitteen where an underpass and a flyover are under construction.
The souqs, shopping centers and malls have been bustling with visitors ahead of the Eid celebration, adding to the traffic snarls all over the city.
Shopping malls have lined up an array of Eid attractions and are also offering hefty discounts. Carpet shops near the Bicycle Roundabout have been offering up to 70 percent discount on carpets made in Belgium and Turkey. “Our sales have gone up many times this season,” one of the shop attendants said. Likewise, perfumes and textiles are among popular items.
Much of the rush was in malls and outlets specializing in clothing for women, children and men. Some of the boutiques said they had a good turnout of shoppers and did good business. “We opened only a week ago and our sales have been fabulous for Eid,” said a supervisor at Colcci, a Brazilian boutique on Tahilia Street that specializes in clothing and accessories for both men and women of all ages.
This has also been a boom time for the city’s tailors, with many families placing last-minute orders for new clothes for the occasion. “We just could not cope with the orders and had to disappoint some of our regular clients with their last-minute requests,” Abdullah Hashim, a tailor in Jeddah’s Kababish area, said. “Some of our tailors have worked round the clock in the past week and it is difficult to meet everyone’s needs,” he added.
“I have to disappoint my daughter as she cannot get a new dress tailored this time. We delayed going to the tailor and are paying the price,” Muhammad Zahid, a Pakistani doctor, said. “She now has to satisfy herself with a readymade dress.”
Another tailor, Mushtraq Fareed, in his shop in Bani Malek said his small business had made about 100 orders for Eid as against 50 last year and up to 10 in normal weeks. “The orders are very high and all of the customers want their clothes for Eid so we have to work very hard,” said Fareed, who has about 20 men working with him.
Likewise, Jeddah’s 2,300 barbershops are doing brisk business, with some of them working overtime to grab an increased share of the Eid market. Market analysts say the barbers earn about SR2 million in the two days before the Eid. Each shop makes an average of SR5,000.
“We have made special arrangements for the rush,” one shop owner in Faisaliah said. Some five-star barbershops take early bookings from their clients and deal only with them instead of walk-ins.
Ashraf, a Pakistani barber, said he gives tokens to his clients so that they can go out and return for their turn. “That way we don’t waste their precious time.”
Disagreeing with this procedure is Turkish barber Yahya Abdullah in the Anakish district. “We don’t give tokens to our clients, but serve them on a first-come-first-served basis. We also serve soft drinks to them and entertain them with some popular TV programs,” he added.
Inquiries show that due to the unprecedented rush, some barbershops are offering only shaving services and not hair dressing, as the latter consumes time.
According to Bashir Abu-Najim, director of commercial supervision at Jeddah Municipality, many of the barbershops in the city do not follow the municipal health regulations. “There are at least 150 hair dressing salons run by women and they are much cleaner and hygienic than the men’s shops,” he said. “Many barbers are not aware of the importance of cleanliness and hygiene and so we have been educating them on the risks of AIDS, hepatitis B and other infectious diseases.”
According to Dr. Waleed Moaiseb, a skin specialist, there is a great possibility of some of the barbershops spreading skin diseases by using contaminated razors. “The municipality has been conducting field campaigns to inspect conditions and it is found that some of the shops operate without licenses and health certificates. Some are also using shaving fluids that are not licensed to be sold here. We impose fines and issue warnings,” said Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, media director at Jeddah Municipality.
