Wang Yuanyuan
SALES of Christmas ornaments at wholesale markets in Bagualing in Luohu District have increased by at least 25 percent despite a 20-percent increase in prices this year.
Most customers at the Bagualing markets were individual buyers who wanted to hold Christmas parties at home, wholesalers said yesterday.
There are three major toy and stationery wholesale markets on Bao an Road North. They supply Christmas ornaments to most stores, companies and restaurants in the city, with prices at least a third lower than in supermarkets.
Ornament manufacturers also had increased sales in the domestic markets. There has been a significant increase in the domestic market since 2008 with a growing number of Chinese families buying Christmas ornaments to decorate their houses and many factories have already turned to the domestic market, said Li Yiming, the manager of Shenzhen Zhuoyue Trading Co. Ltd.
Unlike previous years, buyers came about one month earlier than before. More people came in November and I even made five big sales worth more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,520) each in the first week of November, which would have been quite impossible in the past, said a wholesaler, identified as Lu Yongwang.
More people considered the day a festival nowadays and would like to celebrate with friends and family, Lu said.
Prices increased a lot over last year. For example, a 65-yuan 1.2-meter-tall Christmas tree was only about 50 yuan last year. But I still bought it because Christmas has already become a regular event at my home and I planned a Christmas party every year with friends, a regular customer surnamed Wang said.
