Cyclone Michaung effect: Chennai’s Christmas market sees dull sales

CHENNAI: Shops in the city are shining bright with Christmas stars, lights, and other baubles. The city wears a festive look, which is heartening especially after the cyclone-induced flooding and devastation. However, sellers are not happy with the sales this year, as consumers have been adversely hit by the cyclone. And, yet, keeping with the festive spirit, they are hoping that sales would pick up soon.

“Compared to last year, sales are not up. Most items remain unsold; so we’re forced to keep it for the next year,” said Abdul Kader, Toys World which sells Christmas decoration items. “Due to the recent floods that pushed people into financial difficulty, sales are very slow. The rate of the products decreased when compared to the previous year.”

Cakes are yet another irresistible item during Christmas. Different types of cakes in different shapes and sizes are available in the market. “We hope the sale increases from Friday. The most popular are plum cake, walnut cake, dates cake, and brownies and all of them are sold at competitive prices,” said M Muthumani, Berry N Blossom Cakes, Nungambakkam.

“The rate of ingredients, boxes, and other items have increased by 5% we cannot increase the rate of the cake due to the competition in the market. Plum cake has a huge demand and we sell it for Rs 900/kg. Karupatti plum cake is our signature dish sold for Rs 1,500/kg.”

The sale of non-alcoholic wine very less in comparison with regular wine. “Chennaivassis consume less wine when compared to Kerala where the sale is high. A bottle of branded wine is sold for Rs 400 in our shop. A lot of sellers are bringing wine from Coimbatore where it’s manufactured and sell them here,” said a supermarket owner in the city.