JEDDAH: Tailoring shops in Jeddah have increased their stitching prices by 45 percent, taking advantage of a huge surge in demand, as Eid Al-Fitr is 8 days away.
Some tailoring shops have even stopped taking new orders because of the backlog. Fuming at the sudden rise in the prices, customers have turned to ready-made shops selling ready-to-wear thobes. Some of them have even asked the authorities concerned to intervene.
“The prices of thobes have risen by 45 percent and it has been so since the start of Ramadan because of the increased demand,” said one of the tailoring assistant, Mohammad Al-Saeed. He added that the price hikes are due to the fact that workers need more money for putting in extra work as certain shops have stopped taking orders.
“Customers do not choose the appropriate time to have a new tailored thobe; they could have come before Ramadan when prices are much lower. Now, they have to face the consequences,” said Ibrahim Alyafei, the manager of a tailoring center.
“Customers prefer their thobes to be white and official, in line with the occasion and don’t choose other colors which they do on other occasions,” he added.
But Abdulrahman Al-Amoudi, a tailoring shop supervisor, said the price differs according to the style and fabric. Swiss fabrics are of a higher cost, followed by fabrics from Japan, India and Indonesia. The price of Swiss fabric is SR250 per meter, Japanese SR150 and the stitching charges for a thobe during Ramadan is SR200, but this may vary from one shop to another.
“These shops exploit the Ramadan season and increase their prices which cause much strain and burden ordinary people like me,” said Abdullah Al-Jahni, one customer.
Mohammad Al-Harbi, another customer, called for the authorities to intervene by increasing inspections over these shops, according to Sabq.