How Covid has turned Metro stalls mere brand promo objects

Businesses today reach out to consumers and deliver products at their homes or place of work – the metro model is ideally suited for this kind of a distribution.

Hyderabad Metro Rail, as a seamless and a comfortable mode of local travel is not only a boon to the passengers but also to retailers who have set up various types of retail stores at the stations.

The stores of different categories have set up shop. To begin with, you have convenience, grocery, vegetable, daily needs and accessory; quick service restaurants, large format food courts. Utilities such as, ATM, medical stores, laundry centres have found their way on to the metro stations.

The onslaught of new variants of Covid-19 has had huge impact on retail store business at Metro stations. They have seen many ups and downs in the last two years since the pandemic hit the country. The retail stores are running with only 50 per cent of the sales and some of them have already shut shop due to Covid.

Zudio, the apparel chain of retail giant Trent, which is owned by the Tata group, has outlets in some Metro stations. The store has a constant flow of customers, particularly in the afternoons.

The store is open from 9.30 am up to 7.30pm. Trinadh from Cheerala, a software employee, staying at Ameerpet, says: "The cloths in this shop are available at reasonable price compared to the other stores. As I am pressed for time to go out for shopping, I prefer to visit the shop in the Metro station. This way my shopping is completed with commute, which saves lot of precious time. I'm quite satisfied with the brands available here."

"The quality here is incomparable; we want to shop here to try something new instead of shopping in the malls which we visit quite often. It's a new experience buying clothes here. You get everything here," say two BSC Nursing students, who are regular shoppers at Zudio.

Panda's Kitchen, a soft drinks, snacks and bakery items store has been running its stalls for over two years in various Metro stations. Shivaji, the storekeeper, who has there for more than a year, says, "The customer flow in January was low due to Covid third wave restrictions in the State and it has improved a lot now. I'm a graduate but I'm doing a part-time job here. We work on shift basis and keep the store open for more than 14 hours a day till 10.15 pm.

Subway, an American multi-national fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells sandwiches, wraps, salads and beverages, at the Metro station serves roasted chicken strips, burger, chicken kofta, tandoori chicken tikka, besides the regular Subway items. Due to the seating constraints, the store mainly takes online orders through Swiggy and Zomato. The store is open till 1am.

Keshav, who has been working with the store for one year, says: "The food market has been dull from December as schools and colleges were closed because of the 3rd wave. Due to Covid the people are reluctant to eat outside food. We get more online orders. Though the sales are down, our management is paying our salaries on time."