'Unusually pleasant weather' in May leaves AC dealers sweating as sales fall

DEHRADUN: The 'unusual weather' in the state lately is giving traders dealing in cooling appliances a tough time. Sales of ACs, fans and air coolers have plummeted by at least 80%, thanks to the "unusually pleasant summer" in the hill state, say traders. A retailer from Himgiri Traders, said that sales of cooling appliances are just 20% of that of last year's. Wholesaler Kapoor Electricals said that last year, they had sold 1,450 ACs and this season, they were expecting to sell around 1,800 ACs, but have so far been able to sell only 500 of them.
Asit Garg, owner of Himgiri Traders, said they could sell few ACs in March and April and soon after, the weather took an unusual turn due to unseasonal rain, buyers turned a blind eye to cooling equipment.
"Every year, we place orders for stock in November and December to different companies. Accordingly, for this season, we have got around 1,000 ACs and at the beginning of the season we had a total of 1,500 ACs, out of which only 500 could be sold," Kartik Kapoor of Kapoor Electricals said. Kapoor Electricals is a wholesaler that supplies to the entire Garhwal region of the state. He further added that similarly they have a stock of around 900 coolers and 2,000 ceiling fans for this season but have been able to sell only 250 coolers and 700 fans so far. "We are getting only institutional orders, such as from newly constructed apartments and other commercial buildings like nursing homes, educational institutions etc," he said.