The streets are crowded but those who buy are not many or they just purchase small and low-cost products such as tinsel, pearls or small pine trees ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 dong (93 sen to RM3.74).
HANOI: With just a few days until Christmas, decorations are being sold on the streets of Hanoi, but fewer people seem to be buying this holiday season.
Streets specialising in selling Christmas decorations such as Hang Ma, Luong Van Can, Hang Bo and Cha Ca are full of merchandise shimmering and colourful with thousands of Christmas trees, tinsel, reindeers, lights, laurel wreaths, baubles, candy sticks and Santa’s costumes.
The streets are crowded but those who buy are not many or they just purchase small and low-cost products such as tinsel, pearls or small pine trees ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 dong (93 sen to RM3.74).
Nguyen Thi Nghia, owner of a souvenir shop on Hang Ma Street, Hoan Kiem District said: “The streets have become busier and more vibrant than a few days ago. However, it is mainly tourists, not buyers,” adding that “the number of buyers has decreased by 30% to 50% compared to most years.
“Due to the difficult economic situation, and closer gap between Christmas and local Tet (Lunar New Year Festival), many people are limited in shopping for Christmas decorations.”
Pham Van Dung, owner of a souvenir shop on Cha Ca street, said: “This year the price of decorative accessories is about 15% higher than last year due to the higher shipping costs.” Dung said he thinks the difficult economic situation also makes many people save on shopping for decorations. — Viet Nam News/ANN
