Bata's Kawran Bazar discount store sells up to 100,000 pairs a year, most for Tk 250 to 600

At a Bata sales centre in the capital's Kawran Bazar, shoes are sold all year at discounts of 50 to 70 percent, and staff at the showroom say 80,000 to 100,000 pairs are sold there every year.

The showroom is located beside the BSEC building and the metro station in Kawran Bazar. It is Bata's only such discount store in the capital; outside it, there is another such showroom in front of the Bata factory in Tongi.

Shihab Uddin came by bus from the Mirpur-14 area to Kawran Bazar last Saturday afternoon. The private university student pays his own expenses through tutoring. He had heard from a friend that shoes are sold at special discounts all year at the Bata showroom beside the metro station in Kawran Bazar.

Shihab bought a pair of shoes for just Tk 600. He said the same shoes would have cost around Tk 1,000 to 1,500 at another showroom; he was able to buy them at about 60 percent off, which helped him a great deal.

Another customer, Hafizur Rahman, is an officer at a government institution and lives in Savar. He said he has been coming here since the early days of his job, when his salary was low. In his words, these are Bata shoes and they serve the purpose; they are comparatively better than non-brand shoes outside, but his size is not always available, so he comes here from time to time.

Hafizur Rahman added that the store is a very good place especially for those who have just started a job, those with low incomes, and students who need formal shoes.

Zakir Hossain works at a five-star hotel in Kawran Bazar. He bought a shoe for Tk 800 whose original price was Tk 1,999. He said this was his fourth purchase from this showroom; he has bought shoes here for family members as well as himself. On quality, he said there may be a slight difference, but the quality is good and he has used shoes bought here for a long time.

The showroom sells leather shoes, sandals and sponge sandals, and there are also keds and shoes made of artificial leather. Leather shoes are priced, after discount, from a minimum of Tk 250 up to Tk 7,500, but most shoes can be bought for Tk 250 to 600. Keds and shoes sell for Tk 1,000 to 1,200.

A notable part of the showroom is taken up by school shoes for boys and girls, sold at discounted prices of Tk 300 to 400; their original price is Tk 899 to 999. Safety shoes for workers of various factories sell for Tk 900, against an original price of Tk 2,200.

In addition, Hush Puppies shoes are priced at Tk 2,000 after discount and North Star sneakers at Tk 700. Bata's traditional leather shoes and floor sandals sell for Tk 300, while sponge sandals cost just Tk 45.

Not every customer buys with confidence, however. Sanjida Akter came to the showroom last Saturday evening and was leaving without buying after looking around for a while. She said she had not known shoes were sold here at such discounts; but she felt the quality of several shoes had declined, and doubting whether spending money on them would be worthwhile, she was leaving without buying.

A Bata showroom worker said shoes are quality-checked after production at the factory; among the shoes held back in quality control, the comparatively good ones are sent to this showroom for sale at discounted prices. In his words, the flaws in these shoes are hard to spot with the naked eye and they are almost as durable as shoes that pass quality checks; but if a shoe has a major defect, it is not brought for sale even to this showroom.

From talking to showroom staff it is known that people of various classes and professions come here, with office-goers visiting the most. The Kawran Bazar sales centre is open from 10am to 9pm and remains closed on Tuesdays as its weekly holiday.