Made in Bangladesh

‘Made in Bangladesh’ tags flood London shops

‘Made in Bangladesh’ tags draw increasing number of customers in British retail shops and super stores looking for quality jeans, T-shirts and sweaters that are having a steady growth in sales. Apart from apparels, Bangladeshi fresh foods, vegetables and fish are making their ways into UK shops, especially those in Brick Lane, and other parts of East London.

Not only the Bangladeshi expatriates, the products with Bangladesh tags have admirers among the Britons also. Quality is the first thing that attracts British customers, but prices also matter. As Christmas shoppers started to throng mega shops of London, shop managers are finding it difficult to cope with the increasing demand of customers for products of Bangladesh origin. Retailers said they are looking to enhance their apparel sourcing from Bangladesh.

Recent row over textile imports from China, the traditional major source for UK clothing, has further widened the scopes for increasing supplies from Bangladesh, said Farhat Alam, a shift manager of the TESCO, a major chain retail shop in London. Prices of Bangladeshi apparels range between five and fifty pound-sterling, according to the market sources. Most of the clothes are carrying the sticker - ‘Made in Bangladesh’ - in Peacock, a chain mega shop in the city’s Upton Park.

A sales executive of the British store said ‘For the last four years, we are buying clothes from Bangladesh, and sometimes, we can not cope with the demand of customers, as some of them exclusively come for Bangladeshi jeans.’ When asked about the reason for choosing Bangladesh as their major sourcing country, he said, ‘Bangladeshi products are cheap and of good quality.’

According to the industry sources, EU’s major retailers—H&M and GAP are placing more orders for Bangladeshi apparels to meet surging demand from Christmas shoppers. Paul Chris, a British solicitor, who was found shopping in GAP store in London’s Oxford Circus said, ‘Since GAP is well-known for selling quality product, we expect the Bangladeshi products they sell would be of high quality.’

Bangladeshi vegetables and Benson & Hedges cigarette have also a booming demand among Bangladeshis living in the UK. ‘A packet of Bangladesh-made B&H cigarette sells for 2.80 pound sterling. Expatriates, especially students, are crazy for local B&H,’ said a salesman of East London Cash and Carry.

In Brick Lane and other parts of East London, Alauddin Sweets and Dhaka Biriyani House are some of the common meeting places for Bangladeshis and their guests.

>>Source: New Age