Bazaar retailers stay bullish despite bleak sales forecast

CEBU, Philippines - The traditional practice of giving gifts during the holiday season has brought about the influx of bazaars and trade shows everywhere in the city.

Bazaars are starting to sprout in every mall and park in the city, however, despite the seemingly positive market response from crowds of buyers, most bazaar entrepreneurs reported of low sales this year compared to the previous years.

 Anita Go, an entrepreneur who has been participating in bazaars for more than six years now said that their low sales have started Christmas of last year, due to the economic crisis wherein people became very careful with their spending.

Go, who sells clothes, bags and accessories, said that in the previous years, they would usually earn around P5,000 a day. But last year, they would already consider themselves lucky if they earn a thousand for one night.

She said that in the previous bazaars that she participated in, they already had customers as early as November, those who go Christmas shopping early to avoid the holiday rush.

However, things started to change when the crisis set in, there were only few shoppers even during the month of December. Nevertheless, Tan is hopeful to have more customers this year considering reports of an economic rebound.

She said that there may be more people this year but some just go around and enjoy looking but do not actually buy.

According to Tan, they have even lessened their prices compared to others but some still ask for lower prices because they have tight budgets.

Another entrepreneur, Michael Uy, said that he has been selling his products for more than five years now and even if he sells basic necessities, which is food, he still sees the decline in sales since last year.

Uy said that he also had a problem with maintaining the cost of his products and making it lower since ingredients for his products have increased as well as other expenses such as gas and packaging.

But like Tan, Uy said that he is hopeful that this year will be better as more and more people are now coming to the bazaars and some are even ordering in bulks to give as gifts.