Shoppers at South City mall on Sunday.

Shoppers slayed fears of the demon called economic slump and thronged the city’s malls in numbers on Sunday, with just two more weekends to go before Durga Puja.

Long queues of cars and app cabs were seen entering City Centre in Salt Lake, South City mall on Prince Anwar Shah Road and Quest in Park Circus since afternoon and the crowds swelled as evening set in. The managers of malls and several stores said business was finally picking up after a long lull.

Metro hopped around the malls, catching the pulse of the shoppathon that defined super Sunday.

South City Mall

Traffic crawled from the signal near Jadavpur police station towards South City mall for most of Sunday. For every five cars moving down the road, three would enter the mall. The mall’s parking lot, which can accommodate around 2,500 cars, was full by around 5pm.

The mall’s general manager, Deep Biswas, said footfall was steadily increasing with every passing day. He put Sunday’s footfall in excess of 1.5lakh. The Friday count had been 85,000 and on Saturday it crossed 1 lakh.

“There has been a marked increase in footfall since last week. One store in the mall is open till midnight on weekends while another, too, has applied to stay open for extra hours from next week,” Biswas said.

Bireshwar Das, the store manager of the Gas outlet at the mall, said there had been a marked increase in the number of buyers as compared to last month.

“Sales have picked up. Last month there were a few people who actually bought garments but this weekend has been quite promising,” said Das.

Soma Mukherjee would rather cut expenses elsewhere than give up on Puja shopping. She was there at South City with her daughter and friend on Sunday. “We are confident that this phase (the slump) will pass as well,” she said.

City Centre

The Salt Lake mall was packed since afternoon. The restaurants at the mall, too, did brisk business as people stepped in for a sip and bite after a round of shopping.

Metro spotted an elderly couple from Salt Lake, Chaitali and Sanjoy Chakraborty, resting in the Kund area. “Our entire family, including our grandchildren, is here today. They are all in different shops. I bought some clothes for gifts and a couple of shirts for myself, while my wife got herself three saris,” said Sanjay, 72.

Sukanta Mukherjee, the mall head, said crowd swell began on Friday. “The response has been good the past couple of days. We are expecting the tempo to pick up further,” he said.

Quest mall

A steady stream of cars and app cabs headed for the drop-off point and the mall’s parking lot.

Sonam Agarwal, 28, was spotted shopping for accessories. “My shopping is almost done. I have come here today to get some earrings and a top,” said Agarwal, before heading for a pub at the mall for dinner with friends.

Avijit Kasliwal, the marketing head of Quest mall, said there had been a steady increase in the number of shoppers visiting the mall. “Several stores have come up with festive offers and people are making the most of it,” he said.

The food court, restaurants and cafes in the mall were also abuzz.