The Gazetteers Department

Retail shops are the intermediaries between the wholesalers and consumers. Their stock-in-trade generally consists of grains, spices. chillies, salt, groundnut oil. cocoanut oil. sugar, gul, tea, coffee, soap. agarbatti, paper, slate, tooth powder, erasmic goods, petty medicines like aspro, anacin, purgolay castor oil, paludrine, sulphadizine. etc., which they procure from wholesalers partly on cash and partly on credit basis. The retailers, especially the grocers, offer credit facili to their customers in turn. Satara, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Karad municipalities have enforced the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act of 1948, which makes registration of all the shops and establishments compulsory. Karad, however, is the chief centre of retail trade.

Karad.

There are 723 retail shops employing the largest number of persons in the category in the district, viz., 1,685. Of these the grocery and cloth and hosiery groups constitute the biggest number, and are dispersed in all the seven peths, viz., Somwar, Mangalwar, Budhwar, Guruwar, Shukrawar, Shaniwar and Raviwar.

Satara.

There are 770 retail shops in Satara, the biggest number in the district. Retail shops provide employment to 1,347 persons in this town and are concentrated in Wards No. 3 and 5 of the town.

Of these, the grocery shops and cloth and hosiery shops number 185 and 79, respectively.

Mahabaleshwar.

There are 160 retail shops, dispersed in three wards. They provide employment to 397 persons in Mahabaleshwar. Of these the grocery shops constitute an important group numbering 25 with leather goods and footwear shops following a close second numbering 16.

Trade is very brisk during the " season " but dull during winter and monsoon, when the tourist traffic declines.

Panchgani.

There are 68 retail shops employing 144 persons. They are mostly concentrated in wards number three and four of this town. Of these the grocery shops constitute the prominent group of 16. Sweetmeat and cloth and hosiery shops follow a close second and number 11 and 7, respectively.

Trade is brisk during the " season " as in Mahabaleshwar.

Description of Retail Shops.

Description of retail shops dealing in the various commodity groups is given below:-

Grocery.

Grocery shops deal in cereals, pulses, gul, sugar, oil, ghee, spices, condiments, tea, coffee' and provide for maximum employment in the whole group of retail establishments. Most of the traders conduct business on a small scale though the stock in trade varies between Rs. 500 and Rs. 40,000. The local wholesale dealer supplies all their requirements and only occasionally they resort to Bombay, Poona, Sangli, Sholapur markets for purchases. Generally, they buy on credit. Business is dull during rainy season and brisk during October and March.

Cloth and Hosiery.

The cloth and hosiery group of shops which ranks next, sells all varieties of textiles buying their requirements either from the local agents of the textile mills or from business centres like Bombay, Poona, Ahmedabad, Sholapur, Belgaum, etc. The value of the total turnover of an individual seller varies from Rs. 300 to Rs. 60,000. Business is brisk during spring and festive occasions and dull in rainy season.

The quality of cloth sold except during marriage and festive seasons is medium and coarse. Woollen goods are in demand only in winter.

Stationery and Cutlery

These shops are located mostly in towns and cities having a substantial school-going number and deal in fountain pens, pencils, paper, toilet articles, socks, handkerchiefs, leather and plastic belts, toys, umbrellas, etc. The stock-in-trade is purchased directly from Bombay, Poona, Kolhapur, Dharwar, on cash basis. The value of the average turnover of individual retailer varies between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 12,000.

Leather goods and Footwear.

Boots, sandles, chappals, suitcases, leatherstraps and raw material of shoe-making, etc., leather, nails, thread, etc., are sold in these shops. The purchases are directly made from factories at Kanpur, Luck-now, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras or from local artisans. The business of waterproof footwear is comparatively brisk on the eve of rainy season while quality leather goods are demanded in larger quantities in winter.

Metal Utensils.

These shops deal in utensils made of brass, copper, aluminium, bronze, stainless steel, German-silver, etc., which are purchased from Bombay, Poona and Madura. Aluminium utensils are generally purchased by the poor. Business is brisk in the post-harvest period (i.e., between October and April), and dull during rainy season.

Medicines.

Almost every town has a medical shop which dispenses and sells medicines of both the indigenous and foreign variety. Its stock-in-trade comprises homeopathic and allopathic drugs and medicines, injection tubes, surgical apparatuses, Ayurvedic medicines and condensed vitamins which are purchased from wholesalers or from the producing units directly or through their local agents. Restrictions on imports of foreign drugs have created a large market for Indian products.

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