Hubballi: Thanks to incessant downpour in the last few days, sales of umbrellas have shot up in the city.Umbrella retailers are happy while manufacturers are awaiting for additional orders as old stock is still being sold in the market.It should be noted that umbrella sales was down in the city for three-four years due to continuous drought . Retailers were selling only a few umbrellas when mercury levels used to be high in summer.Rakesh Jain, a retailer in Butter Market, told TOI that this time demand for umbrellas has increased when compared to previous years. “We used to sell one umbrella in 2-3 days during drought but this year we are selling 5-6 umbrellas a day. If rain continues, sales will increase in the coming days,” he added.Sunil Bhandage, a seller in Durgad Bail, said the bad condition of roads is also a reason for increased demand for umbrellas. “Usually bikers used to buy rain coats but thanks to the bad roads, they prefer to walk for short distances and hence are buying umbrellas,” he added.Echoing Bhandage, Sunil Patil, a private employee in Akshay Colony, said he used to drop his mother, a government scholl teacher, to work on his bike. “We met with a minor accident as my bike skidded at Art College two weeks ago. Now my mother is now going by city bus and has bought an umbrella to use while walking to bus stops,” he said.Girish Rathod and Deepesh Rathod, partners, Wolf Umbrella Industry, which has been manufacturing umbrellas for four decades, said the rains have brought a smile on the faces of retailers. “However, manufacturers will have to wait for some more months to get fresh orders. As of now, umbrellas stored at dealers and retailers are being sold in the market. Because of this stock, prices are not hiked,” they said.Sources said the increase in sales was not considerable. “But it looks very big as the sales of umbrellas was close to nil in the last four years,” they added.

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