It’s that time of the year again. Parents all over the city will go through a real headache to get their children ready for the next academic year. Text books, notebooks, stationery and, above all else, a decent bag to contain it all.
Looking at this need, I’ve decided to tell you about the best place for getting school bags. True, you can now get these at any store. But the 25 shops that deal exclusively in school bags at Chabildas Road, at a walking distance of just two minutes from Dadar station (West) beat all else.
This market offers you an unbelievable range of bags in every conceivable colour and size, and at the right price. Even the vendors on the road here add to the choice. No wonder crying kids throwing up a tantrum for “that” special bag are a very, very common sight here.
The school bag market at Chabildas Road in Dadar West now offers a wheeled-bag with detachable pouches for tiffin and water bottle
But please do not even think of leaving your kids behind in order to avoid a scene. The shopkeepers here have had enough experience with parents “always” making the wrong choice and then coming back to exchange a bag with their kids in tow. They are the first ones to tell parents to come with their kids when choosing a bag.
As for the kids themselves, they are completely spoilt for choice. And it’s no longer a case of some carrying space – it’s all about having a “different” bag.
While there are bags that cost as low as Rs 100-200, they are – understandably – totally ignored by children. Designer-looks, colour patterns, roomy pockets, and pictures of superheroes or tele-stars are the norm. The most popular bags are those covered with Spiderman, Barbie doll, Tom & Jerry and Pikachu (from the highly popular Pokemon series, for the uninitiated).
And if your child sets his/her eyes on the latest ‘trolley’ bag, you’ve had it. Costing Rs 850-Rs 1,200 (which is the most expensive one here), this innovative piece has a retractable handle for rolling the bag around on its undercarriage. Yup! You read that right. Apparently, someone thought bags with wheels would be a good idea.
What’s more, the manufacturers even gave this expensive bag a huge capacity along with separate, detachable pouches for tiffin and bottle. It’s meant for students of standards VII to X, but I think ALL children will want it. For, after seeing the tantrums first-hand, I can already see a day when most children going to school will have their bags in tow, NOT on their backs.
Almost all the bags are made in the city itself. But, being a highly seasonal business, school bags are sold only from May to June. The rest of the year sees the shopkeepers selling suitcases and purses.
But this is, indeed, the boomtime. As one shopkeeper, who has been in this line for 13 years now, revealed, “Despite stiff competition from roadside vendors, these two months give each store a profit of Rs 2 lakh.”
source : http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmp...e§id=5&contentid=200705270227374664dcbd2f
