Shopping malls quiet ahead of Idul Fitri holiday
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
One week before the Idul Fitri holiday, shopping centers in Tangerang appear to be unusually quiet for the time of year.
"Even if there are visitors, they just come for window shopping and leave without buying anything," Herawati, an attendant in a clothing store in the Bintaro Plaza, told The Jakarta Post.
She and other store attendants spend their working hours sleepily waiting for customers or rearranging the clothes displayed over and over again just to kill the time.
The Post observed that several department stores in the Bintaro Plaza, BSD Plaza, WTC Serpong and Supermal in Karawaci were quiet on Wednesday, which many say is a result of the fuel price increases of up to 126.6 percent on Oct. 1.
"We also suspect that the bombings in Bali on Oct. 1 also discouraged people from going to possible terror targets, such as shopping malls," said Wati, who works at Supermal.
A marketing staffer at the Matahari department store revealed that sales were down by 50 percent compared to this time last year.
"The most in-demand products during the fasting month so far have been babies' and toddlers' stuff," he said.
Many of the visitors to the mall said they were only killing the time waiting for the breaking of the fast later in the afternoon.
"I've also had to cut down on my spending on clothes this year as I can't afford it," said Tuti Sutiah, 29.
She said that previously she would spend at least Rp 500,000 on new clothes for her family to celebrate Idul Fitri. Now, however, she could only afford to spend Rp 200,000.
Other families have also changed their spending plans. Before, Rina Yusron, 37, usually went to the Ciputat traditional market to buy her family's daily food needs. Now, however, she prefers to buy food from the pushcart vegetable vendors in her housing complex in Pondok Ranji subdistrict to save on transportation costs.
"I have to spend Rp 5,000 just on the minivan fare now. With that money, I could buy enough vegetables and seasonings for three meals," she says.
The vegetable vendors using pushcarts, motorcycles and pickup trucks appear to be the only ones who have really benefited from the fuel price rises.
Karso, 23, who works the Ciputat area, said that he previously could sell five kilograms of red chilies in the space of three days.
"These days, I can sell the same amount in just one day as everybody is now buying from me," he said.
However, a vegetable vendor in Ciputat market, Darussalam, said he had lost many of his regular customers, and expressed the hope that things would soon change.
"People usually go to the market one week before Idul Fitri to do a big shopping ... I hope our turnover returns to normal soon," he said.