Qatar- Back to school sales expected to be strong
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Pak Shama students return to school after the long summer break yesterday. (Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula)
By Irfan Bukhari
DOHA : As some schools opened yesterday and others are set to resume classes after Eid Al Adha holidays, sale of school stationery is witnessing a gradual upswing in shops across the city.
Sales representatives, however, observe that the sales will be in full swing immediately after Eid.
Pak Shama and The Next Generation School are among the few private schools that are already open. Independent schools and most private schools will be resuming classes after Eid holidays.
'Parents have started purchasing stationery for the last one week but the sales have yet not touched their peak as only a few schools are open after summer vacations. Most of the schools are set to open after Eid therefore we are expecting actual rush of customers after the holy festival,” said a salesperson at Jarir Bookshop.
He said that the prices of school stationery and bags remain unchanged yet. The price of a school bag ranges from QR50 to QR250 depending on its quality, design etc.
Another employee of the same outlet said that some items were out of stock. 'The reason is not increased sales rather delayed shipments,” he said, expressing hope that more stocks would soon arrive much ahead of opening of schools.
Several other outlets have also reported an increase in sales. A salesperson of Quality Centre told The Peninsula that children were more interested in buying new school bags. 'Sales have increased but the real surge will be observed after Eid,” he said.
A sales official of a hypermarket located at Airport Road said that the sales of school stationery has just started picking up as most of the expatriate families have not yet returned from their summer vacation. There were several customers in one hypermarket";s school stationery section last evening. The Peninsula also observed a marked difference in prices in markets. A school bag of same quality carried different price tags at various shops with an upward trend in high-end outlets. A customer shopping school stationery for his children said that he was buying the items in advance to avoid the eleventh-hour rush.
'Though school of my kids is going to open after Eid we want to avoid deadline anxiety. I am here to buy each and every item in advance,” he said, adding that he had noted a slight increase in prices of school items as compared to last year.
The Peninsula