ABSTRACT
Karan’s grandfather established the family business on Belgrave Road in the late 1960s and the shop caters to a customer base from across the Midlands and beyond, proud that it is one of the only shops to retain the wide cushioned shelves typical of saree shops in India. In early November, Belgrave Road hosts the Diwali celebrations where the Hindu Festival of Lights goes on for two weeks, during which the street is bedecked with illuminations. As with Belgrave Road where the people started this chapter, many streets are looking to make COVID measures permanent – widening pavements, reducing the number of carriageways, reducing speed and creating cycle lanes. The ‘crisis on the high street’ is a misleading term – there is a crisis of big retail and the town and city centres dependent on multiple retailers have suffered.
