Handicrafts stores down shutters

Small businesses supporting them are shutting shop

The pandemic has been a tough one on all business, especially the small ones. While they continue to plod through, the past few months hasn’t been too favourable for many of them.

With branches in Indiranagar and Jayanagar, Varnam Craft Collective is known for their Channapatna toys. Recently, its owner Karthik took to social media to announce that the Jayanagar branch will be closing due to the pandemic.

The post read: “It took us two months to build it, a lovely place in an old art deco home and less than a week to dismantle. But the decision had to be taken so that we could survive the next year. Yes, we are disappointed and to a certain extent angry. While we were busy trying to save the craft from the invasion of Chinese toys, the pandemic invaded us slowly.”

Speaking to Metrolife, owner Karthik Vaidyanathan explains, “We handcraft everything and this was an opportunity for many artisans to be employed. But since there are many Chinese products in the market for a cheaper rate, people chose to buy the latter. Orders have come down to zero and I have nothing for the artisans to make either.”

He also pins the blame on the “absolute apathy of our government for small business”. He explains, “When finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the budget, why was the second most employment generating sector not even mentioned? Companies like ours don’t even feature in the radar of the government and I haven’t seen the slightest bit of concern.”

He’s worried that the artisans will have to find other ways to survive and lose touch with their craft.

Their Indiranagar store remains open. Their products are available on their online store (www.varnam.co.in) as well.

Fashion backwards

Women’s fashion store Timri, located in Indiranagar, shut shop at the end of May. Owner Kusum says, “You can’t run a physical fashion store and not have people touch and try on your clothes. We were initially closed during the lockdown, but when we opened again, we realised it was almost impossible to keep up with the problems that came with the new set of rules.”

Mainly focussed on apparel, jewellery and accessories, Timri worked extensively with textile designers, design studios and artisans across the country. Since their closure, Kusum has given the machines to some of the designers she worked with so that they can work remotely.

“Our online store (www.lovetimri.com) is still functioning and we have stock for customers. Having said that, we haven’t created anything new because we ourselves aren’t sure how everything is going to pan out in the next couple of months,” shares Kusum.

Saving up

Husband-wife duo Rakesh and Anne have been working from home since the pandemic. Their company HappyKnots has been providing decor for birthday parties and weddings and various popup venues throughout the year.

“May to October is usually off-season for popups so we are doing alright. Last year was a very good one for us so we aren’t struggling yet,” assures Anne.

Even though Unlock 3.0 is on the way and popup events may start again, the duo isn’t planning to set up stalls till they feel safe. “We have done decorations for a couple of weddings in the last couple of months and the anxiety we had throughout was intense. We don’t want to take that risk in a larger setup,” says Anne.

HappyKnots is still making eco-friendly handmade decors and customers are free to come and pick it up from their home (it’ll be dropped out right outside their home gate). She says, “Even for the weddings, we make everything and give it to the client. They just have to hang it up themselves. Our safety is important to us.”