Small-time tailors worst hit after closure

CHENNAI: Stitching women’s clothing at the rate of two sets an hour, tailors  in an underground complex, on Ranganathan Street are usually a busy lot through the year. “Soon after buying their clothes, customers come here and ask us to stitch their new clothes. We charge Rs 80 for readying a standard salwar kameez set within 30 minutes. In the time that we take to ready their lot, shoppers go scouting for accessories for their dresses in nearby shops. We used to stitch up to 50 such sets in a day during the Deepavali sale season, but after the closure, we consider ourselves lucky if a dozen sets are done a day,” says Alamelu, who is part of a large tailoring centre in Suganthy Mansion. “With a 100 shops shut, people think T Nagar has closed down and that’s why not many people are coming here. Customers are largely ignorant and ill-informed about what shops are open, and don’t want to risk coming here,” she says.Amar, another tailor who has been working in the alley for a decade, adds that because The Chennai Silks and Textile India had been shut, people buy their clothes in shops closer to Panagal Park and get their stitching done there. He also rues the fact that not only was business down, they were also losing money paying the touts `150-300 a day, to bring them customers.