SHOPPERS & SHUTDOWN: (Top) A packed mall, pre-Puja; Marks & Spencer is no more at Avani Heights

Sushmita Dasgupta was in for a surprise on Ashtami afternoon when she stopped by South City Mall to pick up last-minute Puja gifts. “Being the main Puja day I had thought the mall would have few shoppers but it was chock-a-block,” said the mother of two, whose shopping expedition lasted 40 minutes instead of the planned 10-minute breeze.

Happy days are here again for the city’s retail racks, which were reeling under the double whammy of downturn blues and rental rows.

Business is up 15 to 25 per cent across all segments this festive season, as Calcuttans shop but refuse to drop.

“Last Pujas, people were nervous about spending as the future was uncertain. This time, they have come out of that self-imposed cocoon. There’s been a growth in business of around 25 per cent over last year,” said Naveen Misra of Shoppers’ Stop.

Early positive markers had prompted most brands to boost inventory by around 25 per cent over last Puja.

Levi’s has more than doubled its sales this festive window compared with last year, while Reebok has clocked a 30 per cent jump, said Vijay Dugar, city-based franchisee of both these brands.

The momentum generated by the end-of-season “sale” storm sweeping the city was carried right into the Puja days, and “people were shopping even on Ashtami for stuff like shoes or semi-precious jewellery”, said Ujjal of Forum, Calcutta’s first modern mall on Elgin Road.

The rush at the retail outlets was catalysed as much by pull of belligerent brands as the push from the buy-buy brigade. From add-on gifts to gift vouchers to slab discounts and other goodies, all stops were pulled out to claw out of the downturn hole.

And the climb could continue beyond the festive fortnight, feels the retail trade. “The brands have given us stiff targets for the rest of the year, but we are confident of achieving those,” said Kamal Jain, who owns Adidas and Benetton outlets in town.

Impulse buying is up, boosting even the high end of the spectrum. “People are walking in and walking out with a Rs 50,000 Longines wristwatch without batting an eyelid, unlike last year,” said Rajiv Chopra of the Prime Watch World chain of stores.

This buoyancy is reflected in the revised retail roadmap of big brands basking in the festive glow. Levi’s is opening more stores in Sector V, City Centre New Town and other locations. Adidas too is looking at new outlets.

“We have seen a growth of around 25 per cent,” said Sandeep Marwaha of the Future Group, which has just opened a Pantaloons outlet at City Centre 2 and aims to come up with four new Big Bazaars in the next few months.

Seeing the crowd crush from New Market to Mani Square, Gariahat to City Centre this festive season, a city-based retail expert said by the middle-to-end of 2010, retail consumption could reach “the high growth levels of 2004-07, if the economic pullback continues at the current pace”.