The Gazetteers Department

Grocery is the most important group of retail shops. In every village and town there are a number of grocery shops. Grocery (Kirana) shops sell a number of articles such as, jowar, wheat, tur dal, masur dal, bajra, gul, coconuts, betel-nuts, coconut oil, groundnut oil, kerosene, soaps, spices, chillis, common salt, dry fruits, pencils, match boxes, and petty stationery goods. Most of the grocers in the district obtain the goods from wholesalers at Sangli. However, some of the big grocers at Sangli bring the goods from Poona, Kolhapur and Bombay as well. Grocers in small villages obtain the articles from Sangli or nearby towns.

Capital investment of a grocer's shop may vary between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 50,000. Most of the retail grocers are found to employ one or two servants.

Stationery and Cutlery Shops.

Stationery and cutlery shops deal in a wide variety of articles including provisions.

The articles are imported mostly from Bombay, Poona and Bangalon. The smaller shop-keepers purchase their stock-in-trade from wholesalers at Sangli or nearby towns. Capital investment in stationery shops varies from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 50,000. Business activity is usually brisk from October to April. An average stationery shop-keeper is found" to employ one or two employees.

Cloth.

Almost every town has a number of cloth shops. Sangli is, however, the biggest centre of retail trade in the district. There is retail as well as wholesale trade in cloth at Sangli. But wholesale transactions are restricted to the coarse and medium varieties produced in the local textile mills and powerlooms in the district. Almost all of these textile manufacturing units are located in Sangli, Madhavanagar and Miraj. Handloom cloth is produced in considerable quantities at Sangli and Budhgaon. All these textiles are sold on a wholesale basis in Sangli town. There are 5 wholesalers and about 50 retailers. Besides, there are a number of petry retailers.

The suprerfine and medium varieties of cloth are imported mainly from Bombay, as also from Sholapur, Madras, Malegaon, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. All the varieties of cloth, viz., poplins, shirting, suiting, long cloth, woollen cloth, terylene, rayon, decron, sarees, lugadi, khan, sheets, lawns and voiles are sold at Sangli. The sale of zari fabrics, such as, shalu, paithani, khan, uptime has declined during the last few years as they have gone out of fashion. Their place has been taken slowly by the modern synthetic fabrics.

This trade is brisk during the period between October and May. Sales reach the peak during the marriage season, and fall during the rainy season.

Hosiery.

The hosiery trade is more or less of a seasonal character. Hosiery shops in Sangli sell caps, readymade garments, underwears, sweaters and mufflers. Readymade garments are brought from Bombay and Poona. Hosiery goods are imported from Ludhiana, Lucknow, Kanpur, Delhi and Bombay. There are about 50 hosiery shops in Sangli town, of which 15 are of large size. The turnover of sales is high during November, December and January.

Hardware.

After Poona, Sangli is the biggest centre of retail trade in hardware in south Maharashtra. There are 15 hardware merchants at Sangli, of whom eight are big merchants with an annual turnover of one lakh of rupees and above.

The merchants import most of the articles from Bombay and Calcutta. They purchase their requirements from the Bombay merchants directly. Their stock-in-trade includes iron bars, nails, screws, pipes, chains, steel sheets building materials, springs, varnishes, paints and cots. The Sangli market attracts purchasers from all over the district as well as from the neighbouring district of Kolhapur.

Utensils.

There are about ten shops dealing in utensils at Sangli. Of them four are big. The stock-in-trade consists of brass, copper, aluminium and stainless steel utensils. Some varieties of utensils are manufactured at Miraj and Sangli. But mainly they are imported from Poona and Bombay. The turnover is high during the period between November and April when there is a large demand from the agriculturists. The utensil merchants at Sangli have formed an association, (1) to reduce the severe competition in the business, (2) to redress grievances of the trade in a united manner, and (3) to represent their case before the Governing Authorities.

Tea.

There are four wholesale dealers of tea leaves and powders at Sangli. Besides, there are a number of retail traders and grocers who sell tea powder. Tea is imported from South India. It is brought directly from the merchants in the plantation area as well as from Cochin. The tea merchants purchase their merchandise: on commission basis as well as on outright cash basis. Most of the; dealers in the district bring tea from Sangli.

Timber.

Sangli town has quite a big timber market. There are 24 timber merchants in the town. The total annual turnover of trade all Sangli exceeds Rs. 25 lakhs. It is mainly a retail market catering to the needs of the people in the district.

About 90 per cent of the timber is brought from Karnatak region and the rest from the Western Ghats. It is brought mainly by trucks. The price of timber varies between Rs. 15 and Rs. 25 per cubic feet.

Bangles.

Miraj is an important centre of wholesale trade in bangles There are eight bangle dealers. Bangles are re-exported from Miraj to other places in the district as well as to Satara, Belgaum and Goa.

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