Jakartans jostle in annual festival shopping tradition

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Why are people willing to waste their time and energy just to go shopping for things with which to celebrate Idul Fitri, which will only last two days?

It's a question that is not easy to answer.

The fact is that as the Islamic festivities draw near, more people throng to shops, markets and other such places where they can spend money on new clothes, food and other goods.

The Mangga Dua wholesale center in West Jakarta is among the most popular shoppers' destinations.

This is evident from the fact that drivers have to spend more than one hour to find a parking spot there.

Acung, a businessman who owns more than five shops in Mangga Dua and Jambu Dua Market in Bogor, West Java, said most textile and garment shops would see their revenue increase by 200 percent until one day before Lebaran.

"On average, shop owners gain about Rp 4 million per day," he said, adding that the "harvest period" began a week before Ramadhan.

In Central Jakarta's Tanah Abang, home of the biggest textile market in the country, pedestrians demonstrate their determination by pushing through hundreds of other shoppers in the market building and on sidewalks.

A shop owner, Hengky Lukita, said the number of shoppers at this time of year increased four times. Most of them bought clothes, including batik shirts and sarongs, he said.

He said his shop, Calorin, would gain multiplied revenue during this season. "But I can't tell you how much the figure is."

He said his shop, which opened in 1983, could sell up to 200 blouses and shirts a day during the Lebaran shopping period, about three times more than usual.

At this time of year, people are desperately looking for new clothing for Idul Fitri. Most shops in Tanah Abang display blouses for Rp 5,000 each, long-sleeve batik shirts for Rp 15,000 and simple batik gowns for Rp 10,000.

Idul Fitri merrymakers are also thronging the high-class boutique on the second floor of the Sarinah shopping center on Jl. Thamrin. The corner, which looks more like an emergency room or warehouse rather than a high-class boutique, offers exclusive products of Maxmara, DKNY, Donna Karan and Emporio Armani. The boutique had a sale from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26.

Among those queuing to enter the boutique were designers Samuel Wattimena, Edward Hutabarat, Andre Rais, Robby Tumewu, model Marcel, singers Dewi Gita and Jana Julio.

"People just want to have the brands. Whether or not they need the stuff is beside the point," said Rezianni, promotion coordinator of PT Kelab Duasatu Nusantara, a private firm which holds the license for Issey Miyake, Maxmara, DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani products.

"We offered a grand total of 5,000 T-shirts, shirts, skirts, blouses, scarfs, shorts and other things produced between 1993 and 1995 during the sale."

The prices during the sale ranged between Rp 10,000 and Rp 200,000, much lower than the original prices, which range between Rp 250,000 and Rp 3 million.

Rezzi said the most wanted items are blouses, shirts, blazers and casual dresses. "The most popular brand is Armani, perhaps because of the style and name."

She said just on the first day of the three-day sale, sales reached Rp 20 million.

According to Rezzi, the Maxmara boutique in Plaza Indonesia, the "original" store which offers new items, increases its sales by 15 percent before Lebaran.

A supervisor at the Christian Dior boutique in Plaza Indonesia, Firna Hermawan, said her business had not been so good over the last few days.

"Maybe because of the recent year's end. Many people purchased evening dresses for year-end parties," she said.

Last year, she said, the boutique registered an increase of 100 percent before Lebaran. "But this year, it's less than 50 percent."

The most wanted items at the Christian Dior boutique were handbags, evening dresses and men's shirts, she said. (icn)