A medium-sized tree, various decorations and a small manger can cost about $150,000 per day. com. alday
Although there is still almost a month until Christmas, in the city’s gondolas, bazaar displays, supermarkets and neighboring businesses – among others – everything from plastic trees to sets of colorful and shiny balls are already on display. They’re also overflowing with sweet breads, puddings, nougats and whole Christmas boxes.
It can be said that it all began far from the traditional date of assembling the tree and the manger, on December 8th, coinciding with the celebration of the Virgin Mary. The trade references consulted agreed that the consumer crisis revealed (according to Indec, the value of wholesale self-service stores fell by 13.1% in annual values in September and supermarkets by 0.2% compared to August) caused Christmas decorations to break into local storefronts early: in some supermarkets, the products began to be sold at the beginning of November.
“Since sales are low, Christmas products help make more money,” said Jose Candiota, president of the Buenos Aires Province Grocers Association.
Fernando Savor, vice president of the Grocers Association, told EL DIA that, as a sales strategy — and also to help customers — they will market the Christmas box for 7,000 pesos with other warehouse colleagues.
Stores indicate that the advance seeks to entice the idea of finding lower prices while at the same time dividing the weight of purchases over two months, for example.
This year, the number of imported items also draws attention. According to the Argentine Chamber of Toy Industry, as of October this year, imports of Christmas goods rose by 146 percent in quantity and 164 percent in volume, in annual terms.
“There was no problem with imports this year. It was more like a deluge of products,” Valentin Zhilchinsky, treasurer of the La Plata Entrepreneurs’ Union and director of the Calle 8 trade association, noted. Regarding pre-sale, he noted that “November was a very difficult month.”
Decorative items and those that make up the Christmas table have a wide range of prices that vary depending on size, brand and quality.
In bazaars and other enterprises of the city, you can buy Christmas trees from 30 cm to 2 meters high. In addition, prices range from 22,000 to 120,000 pesos. However, complete ones (with shiny balls and decorations) can cost between 150,000 and 175,000 pesos. There are also those with snowflakes and their prices range between 450,000 and 500,000 pesos. It can be obtained in installments.
For those who enjoy decorating a Christmas tree, the variety of decorations seems endless: from bows to colorful balls; From stars to crowns of roses.
As for prices, the situation is similar: prices for sets of Christmas balls range from 3,000 to 4,900 pesos for the smallest and from 7,500 to 11,000 for the largest.
Wreaths can be had for 4,000 pesos and prices for bows range from 1,200 (smallest) to 5,700 pesos (largest). The star depending on the texture and size ranges from 1,900 to 4,500 pesos. Moreover, the rose wreath for the door offers a large variation: it ranges from 11,000 to 42,000 pesos, depending on the number of plants and flowers.
Those who want to add the manger or the famous “Nativity scene,” with pieces of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and miniature animals, will have to consider adding between 5,000 and 30,000 pesos to the investment.
Already in the field of performance, clothes that transform into Santa Claus and bring joy to the youngest members of the family can be had for P42,000.
In short, anyone who wants to decorate their home for the Christmas holiday can spend between P150,000 and P200,000 to buy a medium-sized tree, various decorations and a nativity scene.
Sweet bread, nougat
The foods that make up the Christmas dessert table have been on the shelves of shops and supermarkets for weeks and, like the decorations, come in different prices and brands.
Sweet bread can be had for 4,500 to 22,000 pesos depending on the ingredients. As for peanut bars, their prices range from 2,750 to 10,000 pesos, depending on the brand. The price of almonds and almonds ranges between 1,900 and 5,000 pesos. Moreover, the price of nougat does not exceed 2,000 pesos. As for sweets, they can be purchased at a price ranging from 1,600 to 6,000 pesos.
For those who want to speed up the purchasing process, Christmas boxes are also offered: for example, one containing apple juice, red wine, candy, sugar candy, sweet bread and nougat can cost up to 13,500 pesos.