Christmas spending seen to rise 10% despite global economic slowdown

Christmas spending is expected to go up by 10 percent this year despite the slowdown in the global economy, a retailer said yesterday.

In a telephone interview, Rex C. Drilon, Ortigas and Co. Ltd. Partnership (OCLP) chief operating officer, said they expect sales for November and December to be 10 percent better when compared to the same period a year ago.

OCLP owns and operates the Greenhills Shopping Center and Tiendesitas.

“In spite of the economic crunch most of our sellers are looking at double digit growth in sales,” Drilon said.

In fact, he said for the first 10 months of the year, sales in Greenhills went up by 10 percent from a year ago level.

“When people have limited funds they tend to go to the tiangge. Greenhills and Tiendesitas offer quality products for low prices,” Drilon said. “We have a good niche,” he added.

Drilon said people continue to go to Greenhills where Christmas shopping has already been observed since last month.

“There was a pre-Christmas shopping in October but we will launch our formal Christmas tiangge on Nov. 14 together with the launch of our annual Christmas display,” he noted.

Drilon said the growth posted by both Greenhills and Tiendesitas is double the industry average which is at five percent.

“We are an industry leader because most malls are posting flat to small growth,” Drilon explained further.

However, Drilon cleared that inflation has also affected consumer spending in Greenhills. He stressed that the 10 percent growth is small for them because in the last six years, the shopping center grew by 600 percent.

Meanwhile, he said 3,000 merchants are expected to participate in the Christmas tiangge.

He said best sellers have always been food. “We have always been the leader in pearls, ready to wear clothes and cellular phones.”