NEW MARKET

New Market (Bengali: নিউ মার্কেট), north of Azimpur, Dhaka began its construction in 1952 by C&B Dept. on 35 acres (140,000 m2) of land during the period Mr. Nurul Amin, the Chief Minister of East Pakistan. Market was completed in 1954. Mr. Nurul Amin was also active in establishing the first posh Hotel Shahbagh at Shahbagh area (now P Hospital). This heralded the beginning of a new area of development towards modernizing Dhaka. Rickshaw ride or walking along the narrow lanes of old Dhaka for shopping was not a happy experience for families. Old Dhaka was too conservative, noisy and crowded. Ironically, Mr. Nurul Amin’s modernization project boomeranged as people talked against it. Some believed New Market and Shahbagh Hotel were made exclusively for Nurul Amin’s family. The rumor gave credence to common people, so much so that in the general election of 1954, Muslim League was routed in East Pakistan by the United Front of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq and Maulana Bhasani. Mr. Nurul Amin lost in election miserably against a less known student leader, losing the deposit money. New market area is triangular in shape with 3 high arched entry gates on three sides. There were spaces for 440 shops and a nice triangular lawn at the center. Shops sold variety items, benarasi saris, suiting, ornaments, leather items, books. Photo studios and restaurants were around the park inside. In 50's and 60's, it was the most popular place for shopping as well as recreation. Young people, particularly college and university students in groups, donned in best attire, moved round and round in the evening for hours. Girls came in separate groups. For them, free-mixing with classmates (boys) outside was not permitted by the society. Clashes often occurred between rival groups of boys over influence or protection of groups of girls, many of those boys later became ministers and high bureaucrats. In 80’s, 3 more New Market blocks were constructed on the north under Dhaka City Corporation e.g. New Super Market for crockeries, Bonolata for kitchen market, Chandrima for varieties of items and D- block for groceries, each having over 1000 shops. The nice green park inside has been converted into a mosque at first floor level with 60 new shops under it. Many new large and ultra modern malls have sprung up in Dhaka, but the importance of New Market in Dhaka cannot be underestimated.....

Bangabazar

For my friends request today I write about the market for the lower level. Today I talk about Bangabazar market. The price of the goods of this market is very low. So that the lower class people can by any product from the market. Not only the lower level people but also rice people buy dresses from the market. It is best for the wholesaler. The retailers can buy a lot of things in a wholesale price from this market. After that they can sale the products in a good price to the customers. Pants, shirts, jackets, T-shirts, baby dress all of the goods are available in here. The environment of this market is not good. The transport facilities are not also good. So customer does not prefer shopping always from this market. Thus it is a commercial area the market always busy with its customers.

Metro Shopping Mall

Globalization and modernization, have had an impact on Dhaka city architecture. This can be seen in the design of markets and the market motif, manifested in consumerism as a life style and a culture. Within the past few years many shopping malls have been established and global brand products have become widely available, which in turn has an impact on the quality of local products. The modern markets and the products they sell are the most obvious examples of the influence of the West on contemporary urban Bangladesh.The Metro Shopping Mall of Dhanmondi is a popular shopping mall for fashion products. The main clients of the market the rich young generations as all shop sale high price products and emphasize the quality of their goods. Metro plays an important role in changing the fashion, life view and style of Dhaka. This luxurious shopping mall was established in 2002 on Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi, just behind the Bangamandu Memorial Museum. Metro is a six-storied shopping center where each floor has forty-one shops. It is famous for ready made garments, jewelry, shoes, cosmetics and fashion items for ladies and gents. The top two floors are occupied with electronic shops selling, CDs, VCDs, mobile phones and mobile accessories. Friday is the weekly holiday for this market and on other days Metro opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM.

Rapa plaza

Deshbandhu Group is a leading corporate house in Bangladesh engaged in manufacturing and marketing of Refined Sugar, PP Woven Bag, Development of Real states and Trading of Bulk commodities. Incepted as a trading house, this group over the last 20 years placed itself as one the largest fertilizer and bulk commodity importers of the country. Deshbandhu Group entered into the manufacturing business by setting up the first ever sugar refinery in Bangladesh .This Flagship Company is the only (Refined Sugar Association, London) RSA member from Bangladesh and the sole exporter of Sugar to European Union. The group also runs a woven sweater manufacturing house, exporting their products all over the world. The group is now endeavoring to set up the first ever ethanol fuel plant in Bangladesh, an alternative automobile energy source In December 1997, Group has started development of Real Estate business in the name of A&M Properties. The firm has very successfully completed construction of a centrally air-conditioned most modern multi-storied shopping-cum-office complex at one of the most sophisticated areas of the city at House # 400, Road # 27, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, at a cost of around US$ 8.00 Million. The complex, a six-storied building on a land measuring 15,120 sq.feet with two basement floors for Car Parking, called “Rapa Plaza” is presently perhaps the most elegant shopping mall of the city. The firm has plans to construct more such shopping complexes at different places of the country. Happy Today Food Court (HFC) is one of the most modern restaurants in the city with an area of 12000 SFT. in the Rapa Plaza (4th floor) shopping complex . It has different kind of cuisine (Chinese, Thai, Indian, Fast Food), Gift shop & play zone (for kids). The restaurant is the first of this kind in Bangladesh.