Xmas shopping: Both the poor and the rich catch fun

Christmas is here again. Heralded by the cool harmattan breeze and slightly hazy weather, the mood seems right for most people, especially Christians, to celebrate.

Beyond the boundaries of race, tribe and culture, Christmas is celebrated in most countries of the world.

One unique thing about the Yuletide generally is that it is a period that people deliberately attempt to spoil themselve, families and friends a little.

For most workers and business people, it’s that time of the year again to reward themselves for having been working for a whole year.

New cars, new IT and musical gadgets, new homes, new interior decoration and fittings, special dates, parties, new dresses and special menus are just some of the ways people express this feeling.

The season is also noted for reckless spending, especially when the medium of exchange is surplus.

A random market survey showed that virtually every kind of desirable item put up for sale enjoyed impressive demand and supply movements.

This is in spite of the fact that as the D-day gets closer, prices of all such items record over 100 per cent inflation riding on the last minute demand factor.

However, two main items could create class differentiation for people at Christmas. They are the quality of dresses people wear and the food they offer to friends, guests and family members.

Saturday PUNCH observed that although poorly-remunerated Nigerians and the rich don’t shop in the same markets, the former are managing to catch fun at Christmas within the size of their pockets.

They do this mostly by patronising markets that afford them cheaper variants of what the rich flaunt at Christmas.

It was observed that as far as food is concerned, most poor families do not bother to visit stalls where full or half bags of rice and related items are sold.

So, while the rich drive to the popular Daleko rice market and other stalls in town, pay between N8,500 to N12,500 for a bag of rice depending on the brand, the poor patronise retail sellers, who dispense food commodities in small and affordable measurements to them.

As at the one week to Christmas when Saturday PUNCH checked, a basket of tomatoes in main food markets such as Mile 12 was being sold at N14,000.

Moderate size of a live ram, available at many locations within the state went for as much as N60,000.  It is used to prepare Isi Ewu (goat head) pepper soup or Asun (Barbecue), being special delicacies for the season.

For people who love to stay away from the rice culture on Christmas Day, it was discovered that cartons of different kinds of fish suitable for pepper soup and barbecue had also almost doubled their pre-festive season prices. The case was the same with fruits and vegetables for salads; cartons of frozen chicken and turkey.

At the food section of Agege market in Lagos, Saturday PUNCH met Mrs. Dare Alabi, a petty trader and mother of five.

She had gone there to get food items in smaller measures to mark the Christmas celebration with her family.

She told our correspondent that every Christian had equal right to celebrate Christmas, whether rich or poor.

She said, “We will eat what we can afford and be glad. Nobody can stop us from serving what our pockets can afford. I have just bought one Derica of rice for our family of seven. In fact, if not because my children would expect us to cook rice, I would have given them eba.”

Another woman, simply identified as Mrs. Nameka, was seen buying N500 worth of meat from a meat seller.

She told our correspondent that she had to go to the market some days to Christmas to still get a fair bargain.

She said, “I don’t have money for chicken, live or frozen. The N2,500 that I will pay to get a live chicken will buy me pepper and tomatoes, groundnut oil, meat, some cups of rice and seasonings. That is the amount I have to give my family the Christmas feeling and we are grateful to God for even being alive to witness another beautiful season.”

It was observed that the status gap is not limited to food items alone; the gap actually appears to be wider at the clothes markets.

Saturday PUNCH observed that a section of wealthy Nigerians doesn’t necessarily have to visit the clothes market at the peak of festivities.

This is because they would have bought dresses usually for their kids long before the period.

Another category of rich Nigerians patronise major clothing stores just about this period to take advantage of the Christmas sales promotions, which afford the opportunity to buy dresses in bulk. These year-end promos usually display materials for half their original prices.

Majority of people in the latter category patronise chain shopping malls such as Shoprite, the main wholesale clothes market on the Lagos Island or many other stores located within the city.

On the other hand, Saturday PUNCH discovered that there has been greater patronage of second hand wears at all the markets that offer such items.

For people who already understand the market modus operandi, they arrive there as early as 6am. That is the time new bails are opened and the best selections can be made.

At Katankowa market, near Abule Egba, Lagos, ‘grade one’ jeans, t-shirts, long and short-sleeved shirts, skirts, were on hand for picking.

Mrs. Ada George told Saturday PUNCH that once she got home, she would wash the clothes thoroughly in warm water and iron on both sides to prevent any skin infections.

She said, “Thank God for this kind of alternatives, how would I have been able to give my children the much desired new outfits for Christmas? I am better than those who cannot even afford the second-hand wears I am buying.

“If it is at the malls where new wears are sold, this quality of T-shirt that I bought N700 would be sold at least for N1,500 or N2,000. Same goes for the Chinos trouser. What is important is that my teenagers can have a sense of being loved and care for by their parents.”

Meanwhile, some traders in the open markets have said that they are still not enjoying the level of patronage expected one week to Christmas.

At the Vesper second hand clothes and shoes market in Lagos, some traders said they hoped that more people would come in for the last minute shopping, as most people relied on their salaries to buy items needed for the festivities.

Chuks Michael, who deals in children’s shoes said, “There is no money in the system. We are grateful for the sales made so far, but in the days when people were very buoyant, I would have been planning to shut down business for the year. I am not even sure that I will be travelling home for this Christmas because I am yet to hit my target.”

Another trader who deals in kiddies’ wears, Mrs. Taiwo Ibrahim, complained that the rate of patronage during the Yuletide had continued to dip since a few years back.

She said, “Low patronage has been the trend for the past few years. It gets worse by the year. I think the determination of Nigerians to have a great season is what is keeping us in business. Many people also rely on the quality of stuffs that we sell compared to the inferior quality of new wears.

“I think that even some people who can afford to spend more are now becoming shrewder with spending. You know school fees for second term will be due by January. On the other hand, a number of my customers had already been here to select materials since October so as to buy at the normal price, but as it is now, season-induced inflation has set in.”

Copyright PUNCH.