JEDDAH, 7 January 2007 — Pilgrims are visiting various shopping malls, supermarkets and souks. “It’s a delight to shop in Jeddah, with so many world-class malls and shopping centers,” Asma Khurshid, a Pakistani housewife from Lahore who was shopping with her family in downtown Balad, said.
A tour of various shopping centers showed that almost all outlets had pilgrims shopping. “I was waiting for this moment. I did expect a good turnout of pilgrims after the annual pilgrimage,” said Khaled Aboudi, who runs an outlet for travel bags.
Elsewhere in the southern district, known for a collection of the most traditional souks, almost every gold shop was crowded with pilgrims, bargaining for gifts for their loved ones at home.
Similar was the situation at the main gold souk at Kandara district. “I find gold and precious stone prices are on the higher side and beyond my budget, but then I must buy some jewelry for my daughters,” said Yasmin Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi housewife from Dhaka, who performed Haj for the second time in 10 years.
A great majority of the outlets have displayed signboards announcing the season’s discounts up to and even upward of 50 percent. Such outlets exist even on the west-end Tahlia Street that is dotted with fashionable, up-market shops of major world brands.
Shopowners and assistants said pilgrims had been mostly looking for items that were either expensive or not available in their home country. “Such items include carpets, ready-made dresses and jewelry, aside of course from decorative and electronic items,” Khaled Yousuf, a supervisor at the textile showroom at Sharafiyah said. “We’ve been getting pilgrims from elsewhere in the Middle East, the subcontinent and also from Africa,” he added.
“Incredibly, this city has become a giant network of shopping centers,” Muhammad Jadaa, a Saudi who runs a small business at a place near Khamis Mushayt, said. After performing Haj, he said, he decided to pass through the city as it was over six years ago that he had come.
All major souks have been illuminated to attract pilgrims to go on a shopping spree. “I’ve four Hajis as guests and will need to take them around for shopping in the next few days,” said Abdul Karim Sharief, a medical doctor.
While outlet owners are used to the shoppers asking for discounts on every purchase they decide to make, what surprised them the most this time is the growing number of pilgrims with credit cards. Not all outlets have the facility for receiving payment through credit cards.
“Can I pay by credit card,” a pilgrim from Britain was heard asking a carpet dealer at the Afghan souk. She had bargained for Iranian and Turkish carpets worth about SR10,500 and did not have enough cash. “We don’t have the credit card facility,” the dealer said. “This is still essentially a cash society.”
Pilgrims have been enjoying their shopping as the weather just suits them. “I never imagined the weather to be so pleasant,” Abdullah Hashim, a middle-aged pilgrim from Manchester, said at the Mahmal Center. “This is like being in Europe.”
Bawadi and Makarona souks, as well as Heraa Shopping Center, International Market and Jamjoom Center were also crowded with pilgrims. “I bought mostly ready-made dresses for our children and of course some jewelry for my wife and daughters,” said Yousif Mosbah, a Sudanese government official.
A cross-section of shop owners said they were more than pleased with the business they did in the past two days. “Pilgrims have just returned from Haj and they seem to be in a hurry to make purchases and go back to their Haj groups or home,” Samir Khaibari said at his jewelry outlet at the Kandara gold souk.
