Credit Crunch

An investigation by BBC Leicester has revealed at least one specialist clothing sector, with a long established slice of the sales market, is facing difficult times

Sales of sarees - an Indian dress - on Belgrave Road are being particularly hard hit by what's officially now the recession.

Retailers have had to put on extra sales and cut prices again and again to attract customers - but has this worked?

Feeling the Pinch

Priti Mattani owns Sona Rupa. It's one of the best known clothing shops on Belgrave Road. She says her business is really feeling the pinch, and this is by no means a sudden event.

She explains: "The government says the recession is setting in now. But really over the whole of 2008 things have not been up to the mark.

"Even after Diwali we didn't really have a good season.

"January is traditionally a quiet month but at the moment it's just dead.

"Things are pretty grim at present and we are sincerely hoping spring will bring good news and a better year."

Priti is not the only businesswoman on Belgrave Road feeling the draft.

Speaking to other shop owners and managers Sonia found that all of them were desperate to get more customers through their doors and add money in their tills.

Many shops are discounting goods to an almost unprecedented extent and sales are continuous.

Bartering, which was the common way of doing business along the Golden Mile, is not the cost saver it once was. Margins are becoming ever tighter.

Only time will tell whether Belgrave Road can weather the downturn relatively unscathed.