JEDDAH, 8 November 2004 — Families have been thronging various shopping malls and outlets to make their purchases for Eid Al-Fitr.
Mostly crowded are the shopping malls that have newly sprung up, aside from gold and jewelry outlets in exclusive souqs as well as major shopping malls.
“My family wants to visit new shopping malls because they think that a new mall has everything new — new outlets and new products,” Abeer Abdulwahed, a Saudi housewife, remarked while shopping in Sultan Mall in northwest Jeddah.
Families have been frequenting outlets for clothes and gifts for their loved ones, aside from carpets and furnishings that they traditionally replace to mark the Eid celebration.
“Prices of clothes and carpets have remained the same as in previous years,” Zaheera Nadeem, a Pakistani housewife said while shopping for carpets at the Afghan souq in south Jeddah. Children’s dresses range from SR10 to upward of SR100.
Shopping has been average in downtown Balad that is full of traditional souqs and in Haraaj that is also known as junk souq in south Jeddah and in Bawadi in north Jeddah, known for women’s and children’s clothes.
“We don’t benefit much from Umrah pilgrims these days as they come in groups and are led back in groups without a long stopover in the city,” said Hussain Bamarouf at his household goods shop in Balad. These are among the areas where families of average and low income groups shop.
Upscale and fashionable outlets along Tahlia Street, from the Madinah Road intersection toward the Corniche, have had “excellent” business. “Designer clothes and shoes have been mostly in demand from women and children,” Abdul Zahid said at one of the upscale outlets in Jeddah Mall. “People walk in to know what new items are on offer. We know the psychology of shoppers and so make it a point to showcase everything new, from clothes to consumer goods,” he said.
Some jewelers say they have done “exceptionally well” this season. “We’ve done much better business than last year despite gold prices being high,” Ahmad Maddah said at his gold shop in Balad. The gold and jewelry business had suffered a setback following the Saudization of such outlets.
For some others, the business was not as good as anticipated. “We kept our fingers crossed and hoped to do well, although our business suffered with the replacement of expat workers in this trade,” Khaled Attas said at his outlet in the Kandra Gold Souq. Expats raked in good business through their contacts in the community, he added.
Clothes from high fashion to cheap and modest ones have been in demand. Dealers in children’s dresses have reported brisk business. Shoes, electronics, cameras, fabrics, furniture, etc., have also been among the sought-after items.
The Kingdom is believed to be the biggest consumer of perfumes in the world. “Demand for fragrances has been growing so rapidly that the Kingdom’s perfume market has expanded to around SR5 billion,” said Abdul Khaliq Saeed who launched a new perfume earlier this week in cooperation with Saudi singer Muhammad Abdu.
Some of the new shopping malls have been a big attraction for shoppers. Among them are IKEA, which has relocated its showroom to the intersection of Tahlia and Sitteen streets. Likewise, Sultan Mall has been a crowd puller, as it has attractive outlets including those specializing in electronics goods of varied brands.
