Although Christmas is still over a month away, Christmas fever has hit Taipei with the city's first outdoor Christmas tree lit up last night near the Warner Village complex and heavy competition already underway in the retail market.
"In order to compete with other shopping centers, we tried to make the first move and lit up the first Christmas tree in the city," said Pu Mei-yu (普美玉), deputy manager of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi's Hsinyi branch (新光三越信義店).
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The holiday spirit has brought retail rivals together to try to make a buck off of old Saint Nick.
Shin Kong will team up with the New York New York department store, Warner Village movie theater and Neo 19 entertainment center to attract customers by creating a "Christmas season community."
The alliance is planning a variety of holiday events including a Christmas parade and horse-drawn buggy rides -- as well as decking the area with lots of Christmas decor.
However, the cooperation is not so much a celebration of Christmas as a fight for Chunghsiao East Road turf.
"Ever since the Breeze mall opened, customers are being drawn to that shopping district. Therefore we decided to work hand in hand with our neighbors to bring them back," Pu said. "The competition is facilitating our cooperation."
In addition, Pu explained, most of the consumers who visit the Hsinyi area are young people and foreigners who are interested in the spirit of Christmas.
Since only 4.5 percent of Tai-wanese are Christians, most regard Christmas as a special day to offer gifts to relatives and friends rather than as a religious holiday like in the West.
"Just like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, Christmas is a chance to show your appreciation and love," said Yang Shih-ming (
Young people also come to shop for special outfits for Christmas parties so "dressy clothes and gifts like jewelry, china and accessories sell best during the holidays."
Yang said most shopping centers offer Christmas sales but the discounts won't be as low as with annual sales. "Christmas events put more emphasis on brand images and store displays than on sales."
With most department stores still knee deep in their November annual sales, Christmas decorations won't be on display just yet.
"We will put up the Christmas decorations right after the annual sale," said Hsu Shu-hsien (
Meanwhile, for expatriates in Taipei living thousands of miles away from family and friends back home, one online retailer suggests using the Web to play Santa.
"Through our online Christmas gift stores and shipping services, customers all over the world can save time and money on international deliveries," said Jasper Chueng, national manager at Amazon.com in Japan.
"Since we select the warehouse closest to the recipients to ship products, delivery is very efficient," Chueng said.
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