Every city has its own shopping district - most are either famous for high end shopping, or things like farmers markets, artisanal stuff, etc. chennai's shopping scene also has its share of malls with big brands, and the famous retail district of tnagar which is the silk and gold hub of the city, etc.
what sets chennai apart, however, are the streets of north madras. (well, to those who call the city home, it is still north 'madras', and not north 'chennai'.) the area is called by various names, like george town, parry's corner or simply parry's, or to most people from the southern parts of the city, just 'town'. encompassing a large area from the bay of bengal or the beach railway station in the east, to the central station in the west, it has long been a trading, commercial, and banking hub, existing right from the city's earliest days.
so what exactly is special or unique about shopping in the area ? many of the streets here deal exclusively in goods of a particular kind - for example there is an entire street filled with clothes or an entire street filled with stationery, or an entire street of hardware stores ! and most of the shops deal in both wholesale and retail, so the area is known for very competitive prices, much lesser than what one would pay at regular retail stores.
the easiest public transport access to the area is the beach station which has the city's older electric train service and the mrts lines, on the eastern side, the mannadi metro station on broadway, the high court metro station which has the closest access to nsc bose road which is arterial to the area, or the fort station on the southern end of george town, which again has both the older electric train and the mrts lines. it is best to take public transport and autos because these areas have extremely narrow streets and parking is near impossible to find.
lets take a look at a few of the streets and what they specialise in (in no particular order) -
Broadway is likely the broadest road (though thats not the reason for the name) in the georgetown area, which is otherwise full of narrow streets. ( cars and buses ply through broadway, whereas other streets on an average are more like one-bullock-cart-wide. dont ask me for metric system equivalents.) Broadway is full of opticians and optical shops. Maybe you are looking for more variety the next time you are buying spectacles, or maybe you decide you need half a dozen of them at a time. no worries, the road is chock full of entire buildings full of shops selling eye glasses.
if you're a stationery hoarder or the smell of crisp new notebooks give you a high, then anderson street will make you feel like you crossed a portal into another dimension. all kinds of paper, paper and packaging products, notebooks, diaries, wedding and other invitation cards abound here.
fabric, clothes, sarees, - godown street is the place for it all, filled as it is with shops big and small, wholesale and retail. massive bundles of clothes are unloaded each day even as carts and bikes, cattle and people, jostle for space and go about their business in this narrow lane.
kothawal chavadi (or kothaval chavadi) - it used to be asia's biggest vegetable and fruit market until the mid 90s, when most of the shops there were relocated to the koyambedu complex where it functions now. despite the relocation, the area still has a lot of vegetable sellers and an interesting assortment of grocery and other shops.
there is a long list of many other such streets in george town/parrys corner, and the street names themselves a reminder of the area's interesting ethnic mix of inhabitants over time, from britishers to armenians to telugu chettys and later, rajasthani/marwari traders. i'll wind this up here so that it doesnt get too long and maybe come up with more in another instalment.
what sets chennai apart, however, are the streets of north madras. (well, to those who call the city home, it is still north 'madras', and not north 'chennai'.) the area is called by various names, like george town, parry's corner or simply parry's, or to most people from the southern parts of the city, just 'town'. encompassing a large area from the bay of bengal or the beach railway station in the east, to the central station in the west, it has long been a trading, commercial, and banking hub, existing right from the city's earliest days.
so what exactly is special or unique about shopping in the area ? many of the streets here deal exclusively in goods of a particular kind - for example there is an entire street filled with clothes or an entire street filled with stationery, or an entire street of hardware stores ! and most of the shops deal in both wholesale and retail, so the area is known for very competitive prices, much lesser than what one would pay at regular retail stores.
the easiest public transport access to the area is the beach station which has the city's older electric train service and the mrts lines, on the eastern side, the mannadi metro station on broadway, the high court metro station which has the closest access to nsc bose road which is arterial to the area, or the fort station on the southern end of george town, which again has both the older electric train and the mrts lines. it is best to take public transport and autos because these areas have extremely narrow streets and parking is near impossible to find.
lets take a look at a few of the streets and what they specialise in (in no particular order) -
Broadway is likely the broadest road (though thats not the reason for the name) in the georgetown area, which is otherwise full of narrow streets. ( cars and buses ply through broadway, whereas other streets on an average are more like one-bullock-cart-wide. dont ask me for metric system equivalents.) Broadway is full of opticians and optical shops. Maybe you are looking for more variety the next time you are buying spectacles, or maybe you decide you need half a dozen of them at a time. no worries, the road is chock full of entire buildings full of shops selling eye glasses.
can you count the number of optical shop boards in this single building ? the road has several such buildings.
walk further down broadway, and you get rows of shops selling an assortment of industrial stuff, like welding equipment, machine tools, uniforms and safety equipment, and stuff like weighing machines and flour mills. i dont know if anywhere else one can find such a profusion of shops for so much of b2b goods.
a shop selling flour mills, commercial blenders & sugar cane juicers. and the adjacent shop sells safety vests, hard hats, etc.
the brightly coloured wedding card shops are a visual delight. many also have a wide variety of 'return gift'/wedding favour bags in paper and jute.
tall stacks of new diaries, journals, and calendars temptingly beckon you when it gets close to the new year.
fabric, clothes, sarees, - godown street is the place for it all, filled as it is with shops big and small, wholesale and retail. massive bundles of clothes are unloaded each day even as carts and bikes, cattle and people, jostle for space and go about their business in this narrow lane.
when i told you about streets being one-bullock-cart-width earlier, i wasnt kidding. try fitting that cart across the street.
kothawal chavadi (or kothaval chavadi) - it used to be asia's biggest vegetable and fruit market until the mid 90s, when most of the shops there were relocated to the koyambedu complex where it functions now. despite the relocation, the area still has a lot of vegetable sellers and an interesting assortment of grocery and other shops.
a shop selling just betel or paan leaves. the tender green leaves are a must in all tamil nadu weddings, festivals and auspicious occasions.
where else possibly would you find an entire shop selling just onions and potatoes ? (ok, and some garlic-garlic, as can be seen at the back)
there is a long list of many other such streets in george town/parrys corner, and the street names themselves a reminder of the area's interesting ethnic mix of inhabitants over time, from britishers to armenians to telugu chettys and later, rajasthani/marwari traders. i'll wind this up here so that it doesnt get too long and maybe come up with more in another instalment.
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