The incessant violence in Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi, has taken a heavy toll on businesses, and Benaras Town, the heart of the city's silk industry, has been particularly affected.
The silk fashion boutiques here are lying empty and Urdu-speaking traders say the city's chronic and often deadly violence is to blame.
Business is almost down by 50 per cent, and unless normalcy returns shops will remain shuttered.
Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from Karachi's Benaras Town area.