Ritchie street is the

grey market A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...

or unorganized shopping hub for electronic goods, chiefly from China and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The market is centered in Ritchie Street and is spread through the surrounding Narasingapuram Street, Wallers Street, Meeran Sahib Street, Mohammed Hussain Sahib Street, and Guruappa Road, all adjacent to

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and e ...

(formerly Mount Road). The street is always crowded, and very little space is available for movement of vehicles or pedestrians. It is also infamous for its sale of illegally copied content like video games and movies and had been listed as a

notorious market A notorious market is a website or physical market where, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), large-scale intellectual property infringement takes place. Officially termed Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting a ...

in 2009 and 2010 by the

USTR The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting American trade policy. Part of the Executive Office of the President, it is headed by the ...

for selling counterfeit software, media and goods. Ritchie street started as a radio market and then transformed into a market for televisions, computers, mobile phones and laptops. Today the street has over 2,500 shops employing 15,000 people. Ritchie Street is credited as the second largest electronic market for computer spares and peripherals in India, after Nehru Place, New Delhi, India. The market has a wide variety of goods ranging from electronics and robotics to LED lighting. The marketplace usually starts buzzing at around 11 am and dwindles at around 10 pm, after which it becomes difficult to find an open shop. This is due to the nature of the customers who visit Ritchie street, who are mostly working professionals and students. People usually get good deals for anything and everything, which is the reason why people flock to Ritchie street to buy goods.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie Street Electronics districts Roads in Chennai Retailing in Chennai Notorious markets

See also

References