West Bengal Garment Manufacturers and Dealers Association hosting a fair

The three-day extravaganza is going to be held between January 5 & 7, 2017. “We have got 102 participants which make for more than 300 brands in totality. The fair will witness the presence of kidswear players mainly owing to the fact Kolkata is known as the hub for the garment industry. Over 500 wholesalers from different parts of the country have confirmed their presence in the fair. The event is core B2B fair wherein we are expecting big retailers, prominent wholesalers, distributors and agents on a pan-India basis. In three days, we are anticipating about 1500 visitors. We are expecting people from Delhi, Mumbai, Lakhnow, Amravati, Indore, Patna, Assam, etc.,” elaborated Vijay kariwala, VP, West Bengal Garment Manufacturers and Dealers Association.

Performance of the previous editions

Talking about the performance of previous editions, Kariwala, highlighted, “We are conducting this fair for over 40 years. This is the 43rd edition of this fair. We organise this event every year. This time the fair is little delayed due to demonetisation. The response for the previous editions has been phenomenal. People want to be with us, we have 80 per cent repeated participants for the upcoming event. The last fair had 92 participants with us. This time numbers have certainly gone up. A majority of players are based out of Kolkata. This fair is kind of buyer-seller meet in which they choose collection for spring/summer 2017.”

This is one of the best platforms for buyers, retailers and wholesalers in the region. It is organised on a pan-India level to offer many opportunities to stakeholders. The graph of popularity is increasing. A good deal of business is expected this time. The venue is centrally located as it is in the heart of the city.

Highlighting reasons for selecting a hotel over an exhibition ground, he said, “We have tried both the platforms. Some of previous editions have been organised in exhibition grounds too, but our participants find it more appealing to have a hotel as a value, the reason being, you can run your stall to any time of the day or night. There are no certain hours or time during which participants and visitors can run their show. So, for us the venue is a matter of choice for us. Earlier we conducted the fair in Netaji indoor stadium spanning 20,000 sq feet area. For the last couple of years, our participants are preferring to put their stalls in hotel. We take suggestions first and take steps accordingly.” The future is very bright for the garment industry in Kolkata, especially for the kidswear segment.

The demonetisation impact

According to Kariwala, the fair was planned earlier between December 2 and 4, 2016, but taking demonetisation into account, it was postponed to newer dates. “Everybody is facing issues but normalcy has also come over the time. We hope that retailers and visitors will overcome it somehow and they are already doing it. Our optimism has not come down. Moreover, we believe, visitors and participants are fully aware of future growth prospects and the benefits they can reap by associating with this fair,” he remarked.