Commerce At Tanah Abang Market Back To Normal Ahead Of Christmas

Tanah Abang market atmosphere (Photo: Antara)

Commercial activities at Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta, returned to normal the day before the 2022 Christmas celebration, Saturday (24/12), following the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia that has been under control.

"Activities at Tanah Abang Market are one of the national barometers if you want to see the COVID-19 pandemic situation that has started to return to normal," said Central Jakarta City Secretary Iqbal Akbarudin, quoting Antara, Saturday.

The commercial activity at the main clothing and textile trade center to various regions in Indonesia and Asia, one of which can be seen from the arrival of Commuterline KRL passengers at Tanah Abang Station which has been busy since the morning.

Train passengers arriving at Tanah Abang Station are dominated from the east, from Bekasi to a number of areas around Jakarta.

The series of KRL carriages were fully occupied by passengers at two train stop stations, including Bekasi Station and Manggarai Station.

Market visitors via stations generally move to the Tanah Abang Wholesale Center area via the Multipurpose Crossing Bridge which is the corridor connecting train passengers to the merchant stall.

Meanwhile, the traffic situation at the Jatibaru Round intersection, which is right under the bridge, appears to be the node for traffic congestion from commercial activities.

The visitors who crossed the 300-meter-long bridge corridor were greeted by hundreds of clothing stalls to knick-knacks that divide the lanes in and out of the station which were quite crossed by four people crossing each other.

The atmosphere was full of visitors who mostly hunted finished clothes and cloth materials. A number of consumers seem busy bargaining on the price of retail and wholesale products with traders, so the pedestrian rate has to be stopped several times, because of the queue.

If most consumers come obedient to wearing masks, that's not the case with some traders at that location. They peddle their products without masks.

Handwashing facilities are only available at the station exit, while hand washing facilities are at the entrance of wholesale centers, neglected, without flow of water in the tap and soap.

The atmosphere at the Tanah Abang Wholesale Center is divided into seven floors, almost all of which are crowded with visitors. The dominance of consumers is on the ground floor to the 3rd floor which sells various casual and official clothing, imported cloth materials, to hats and bags.

Prices offered by traders generally increase in the range of 10 to 30 percent during the Christmas holidays. The price range applies to the production of locations and imports from China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam.

This year's Christmas nuances are not very visible at the Tanah Abang Wholesale Center, because ornaments such as Christmas trees, banners, and knick-knacks are typical of celebrations that are not displayed by the manager.

One of the things that marked Christmas's excitement was the transaction at a lively accessories sales kiosk with thousands of bros, necklaces and earrings that were displayed on the storefront.

"Bros unit 25 thousand, if you buy dozens of 240 thousand. It's been a week since buyers have risen to around 50 percent," said the manager of the Nabila accessories kiosk on the 1st Floor of Block A, Sania.

The increase in transactions was also felt by traders on the 3rd floor of the Tanah Abang Wholesale. Generally, the types of hats bought by retail traders are kupluk and baseball caps with red Christmas colors.

"Those who buy wholesale usually go online and send them to the regions. If there are retail averages here for Christmas," he said.

Traders at batik kiosks offer premium products on average above IDR 250 thousand per dress. Meanwhile, the low quality is priced at IDR 65 thousand for short sleeves, and IDR 75 thousand for long sleeves. For a lower price of dozens, it is IDR 10,000.

The manager of Block A Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta projects that the number of wholesale center consumers will increase by 30 percent compared to normal days.

"Now the status of restrictions on community activities is looser and this encourages all sectors to be more felt alive, including in Tanah Abang," said PT Cakrawala President Director Tirta Buana Indiarto Tanumihardja as the manager of Block A Tanah Abang Market.

He explained that during normal situations before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average consumer visit per day could reach 60 thousand people.

Currently, the level of consumer visits is estimated at up to 40 thousand people per day.