Godown Street offers fabric and textiles from reputed mills in Mumbai, Delhi, Meerut and Coimbatore. Power loom goods from Bhiwandi and Bhilwara can also be obtained here.

The street goes back more than 250 years. During the days of the British Raj, most traders on Godown Street were Muslims who imported cloth and sold it. Traders from the Chettiar community entered the fray in the 19th century.

During the Freedom struggle, the 'Swadeshi' movement, which advocated the 'Be Indian, Buy Indian' policy, helped bring local mills to the forefront. During the World Wars, there was a scarcity of cloth material. To overcome this scarcity, the government started rationing cloth. The yearly ration for one person was four and a half yards of cloth material. Traders made huge profits because demand far outstripped supply. After Independence, locals dominated the market till very recently. Today 90% of the shops on Godown street are owned by North Indians.

Godown Street was the first wholesale market in Tamil Nadu. Before decentralisation, the street supplied textiles to the whole of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The Madras Piece Goods Merchants Association, located on this street, is one of the oldest traders' associations in the city and was formed in 1920. It has over 2,000 members, dealing in textiles on Godown Street, and all over Tamilnadu.

Ponnambalam, President of the Association, says, "We do not call ourselves textile merchants, but piece good merchants, because we buy cloth in bulk and sell it in pieces. We are basically semi-wholesalers."

The future of this street looks bleak because of decentralisation and the sluggishness of the textile industry, which is undergoing a recession.

Approach: On the left, when entering N.S.C. Bose Road.

Sunday Holiday.