Eid el-Fitr: Kano tailors make brisk business

Ahead of Eid el-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, tailors in Kano State have been making brisk business and smiling to the banks despite the economic hardship being experienced in the country. Traditionally, tailors use the opportunity every year to strengthen effort by burning the candle at both ends and at times work round […]

Ahead of Eid el-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, tailors in Kano State have been making brisk business and smiling to the banks despite the economic hardship being experienced in the country.

Traditionally, tailors use the opportunity every year to strengthen effort by burning the candle at both ends and at times work round the clock as there is high demand for new clothes.

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When our correspondent visited Fagge area where most of the tailors, particularly the youths who learnt the ropes very well operate, it was overcrowded with people and noise of generators and sewing machines.

Almost the same situation was observed in places like Kurna, Gadon Kaya, Rijiyar Zaki and other parts of the metropolis.

Speaking to Kano/Jigawa Chronicle, some of the tailors said they witnessed a high turnout of customers.

Kamalu Yakubu who is a tailor in Kurna, Dala LGA, said there was high patronage this year as people trooped into his shop with their fabrics for sewing.

Kamalu was not certain if he could finish the number of jobs waiting for his attention before the eid day, even as he had stopped collecting new work since the second week of Ramadan.

Sa’idu Gambo, another tailor, who has been in the business for over 10 years in Fagge LGA, said there were some changes this year compared to previous years regarding the operation of the tailoring business.

“For me, I stay in my shop until 12.am since the commencement of Ramadan,” he said.

Another tailor in Fagge, Saleh Ahmad, said even though many people brought more fabrics this year, a significant number of them had not paid and he had to use his savings to pay for their designs and buy other sewing materials.

For female tailors like Aisha Ahmad Sukhairaj who has a shop in Rijiyar Zaki, the year is a blessed one as she witnessed high patronage.

With regards to payment, Sukhairaj said she employed a different strategy which helped her get paid by customers instantly.

“What I do is simple, pay and get your work done. The least amount I collect is half payment and if I finish the work you’ll pay the remaining. People use to bring their work and say they would pay you later or they would send it through your account and they won’t.”

Some customers said that their tailors might disappoint them as the deadline they gave them had passed.

Umar Lawan said he came to Fagge to collect his clothes from Gaya LGA but that to his surprise his work was yet to be done.

He said his worry was that his children might not get new clothes to wear during the eid, but that the tailor promised to finish his work today (Wednesday).