Christmas Consumption

Of all the religious holidays celebrated in Ethiopia, Christmas – locally called Gena – is the occasion when most flock to the shops to buy decorations and gifts for their loved ones. Although more people stay at home, when compared to Enkutatash (the New Year), Meskel (the founding of the True Cross) or Fasika (Easter), they spend a lot of money on gifts.

Samrawit Habte, who sells cosmetics in the Merkato area – Africa’s largest open air market – was selling decorations and Christmas trees on Monday, December 31, 2013. She expects high sales during the festive period, which from her past experience has been a peak time. She mostly sells Christmas trees with a smooth texture, like those found in Western countries.

She was sullen on that day, however, since the market was less vibrant than it used to be.

“The market has been hit by a shortage of Christmas trees,” she grumbles. “This causes a rise in their price.”

Ketema Mammo, and other sellers of Christmas trees approached by Fortune, complained of the shortage in the supply of trees in the market.

Prices for the trees are determined by their height. Samrawit sells a 1.5 metre tall tree for 2,200 Br, whilst the 2.1 metre ones are sold for 5,000 Br each.

“I find the prices shocking,” says Tigist Alemu, a customer of Samrawit, who was buying a 1.5 metre tall tree. “I bought this tree for 1,000 Br two years ago, with the same quality. I am amazed by the increase in the price of trees this year.”

The price of balls and other decorations are comparatively fair, as Tigist and other shoppers witnessed.

Decorations widely available on the market include baubles, tinsel and lights.  Prices for Christmas lights ranged from 40 Br to 150 Br, depending on their colour, length, variety and number of bulbs, as Fortune observed. The price for balls ranged from 40 Br to 85 Br, depending on the number in the packs. On the other hand, the price for 1.2 metres of tinsel is 15 Br.

Selam Alelegn, a 21-year-old a college student, who was selling decorations owned by her big sister at Mestawet Tera, says the prices of decorations are more stable than the trees.

Zerihun Mengesha, a 26-year-old gift shop owner, was standing in front of his gift shop in the middle of Shola Gebeya on Comoros Street, selling plastic trees. These are less expensive than those with a smoother texture trees. He said these trees were being sold for between 230 Br to 350 Br depending on their height.

According to Central Statistics Agency (CSA), Christmas lights with a total weight of 83,959 kilograms were imported in the year 2012.

Other than this, Christmas decorations, gifts and postcards are also widely available in different Malls and commercial centres during the festive period.

Zefmesh Grand Mall, located opposite the Betelehem Plaza around Megenagna, is one of the biggest markets in Addis Abeba. It houses a large number of gift shops, supermarkets and boutiques all in one place.

Belen Tesema, a salesperson in one of the gift shops in Zefnesh Grand Mall complains that the number of visitors has dropped recently because of the road construction. Most of her costumers buy frames, crystal ornaments, wall pictures and other household items. The price for all of these items lies somewhere between 490 Br and 1200 Br.

At Adi Stationery, one of the stationeries housed in the Metebaber Building around the Megenagna area near Zefmesh Mall, people were buying different kinds postcards and Christmas gifts in the afternoon of Tuesday, December 31, 2013.

Good wishes were written in both Amharic and English and included many different designs. Along with the imported ones, locally made cards with pictures of children, daisies and some spiritual paintings, are also sold.

Some stationers claim that the imported cards outsell the locally made ones. There are also numerous banners, mostly for wall hanging.

Foldable postcards are locally made in what is known as single-sheet tourism, with space for a note and stamp on the back.

These jumble of cards are now making reasonable profits for street vendors, who sell them on inverted umbrellas along most populated roads in Addis Abeba. Street vendors carry both imported and local varieties.

Tariku Alaro is one of them. He used to sell shoes after coming from Gunchire, in the Gurage Zone of the Southern Region, four years ago. He has now shifted to selling postcards.

“Postcards are seasonal and bring more money than I can earn from selling shoes,” he comments.

The local cards are selling in other places too.

“Most of my customers prefer to buy cards made locally, with Ethiopian traditional pictures,” Says Melat Kebede, a young salesperson in the stationery shop housed in the Metebaber Building.

“The reason for this is that the majority of customers complain that the cards made in western design don’t express Ethiopian culture.”

As far as price is concerned, the locally made post cards sell for 12 Br and 13 Br. This makes them even more acceptable for all customers. On the other hand, the price for cards with western designs is from 20 Br to 25 Br.

Frames and candles, with different colours, and photo albums are other kinds of gifts in high demand, as Fortune’s observation in places like Piassa, Megenagna and Merkato demonstrated.

Although most of their customers say they found it difficult to spend all their money on Christmas decorations before fulfilling their household needs, sellers like Samrawit in the Merkato area hope for better sales, particularly during the eve when more and more buyers are expected to flock to their shops.


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