Visitors Start Crowding Muslim Clothing Kiosks In Block A Tanah Abang Market Ahead Of Ramadan

Atmosphere In Block A Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

JAKARTA - A number of visitors began visiting kiosks in Block A of Tanah Abang Market ahead of H-1 Ramadan 1444 Hijri. Residents from various cities came to shop for Muslim clothing.

However, the situation of visitors at the kiosks - clothing kiosks was not too crowded. Visitors come and go. Meanwhile, the kiosk owners admitted that during Ramadan that year there was a decrease in order for clothes from areas outside the city of Jakarta.

"It seems that it is indeed crowded, but the number of buyers has dropped dramatically from last year," said Mutia, one of the owners of a Muslim clothing business in Block A Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, March 22.

Couriers in Block A Tanah Abang Market, also feel a decrease in shipments of goods that are usually crowded from outside Java. Usually, clothes from Tanah Abang are marketed again outside Java, generally Palembang, Bengkulu, Padang, to Papua.

Rahman, 36, one of the couriers, admitted that usually the number of clothes orders last year reached 200 dozen, now only around 70 dozen for one shipment.

Rahman said traders outside the city usually had ordered clothes for 1-2 months before Ramadan. In addition, he also felt a decrease in the number of out-of-town customers by 70 percent.

"Current traders in Kalimantan and Sulawesi who usually come here, this year are no longer trading clothes, many have changed their business because they have been eroded by 'online' spending," he said.

The impact of the decrease in booking clothes outside the city has finally resulted in porters or transport services. The number of porters in Block A Tanah Abang Market itself is estimated to reach a thousand people.