Presenting gifts to one´s friends and family members is associated with these festivals for a long time. As a result, gift shops in the Kathmandu valley are receiving huge crowd of customers these days.[break]
According to Vandana Khetan, proprietor of Hallmark outlet at Kichhapokhari, said sale of gift items has increased because these days people cutting across religions celebrate festivals like Christmas and the New Year.
"For the New Year any gift item would do but for Christmas you need special items. We have particularly brought special gift items for Christmas such as Christmas trees, dress and accessories for Santa Clause, cards, Christmas decoration items such as bulbs, stars, lighting system, among others," said Khetan.
Christmas tress of heights ranging from 1foot to 10 feet are available in the market and the price ranges from Rs 100 to Rs 5,000. However, price of the trees varies according to the type of the decoration material used. Similarly, different varieties of Santa accessories are available in the market in the range Rs 100 to Rs 500.
Santa dresses are available in the market for people of all age groups and the price starts from Rs 250. Other gift items such as pen stand, cup, photo frame are available in gift shops in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 500, Khetan said.
At a time when demand for gift items has increased, traders say sale of cards has gone down because SMS, online messaging and email have taken over the market of cards. Cards with quotes and messages for New Year and Christmas are available from Rs 20 to Rs 150.
Khetan disclosed during the festive season average transaction of the shop hovers around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
Prem Lal Shrestha, proprietor of Archies Cards and Gift Shop at Battisputali, said with the increase in Nepalis celebrating festivals of other religions, the sale of gift items has increased. According to him, demand for Christmas trees and Santa apparel and accessories in particular is very high in the market.
"With the increase in the number of schools in the capital, especially Montessori schools celebrating Christmas and New Year, there has been an increase in the demand for various gift items," Shrestha added.
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