Christmas blues

The financial crisis has cast its shadow even on the business of florists, Nesmahar Sayed discovers

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Walid Ramadan says that usually this time of year is one of the best for selling flowers and plants, given the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The season starts 20 December and extends until Coptic Christmas on 7 January. "Last year we bought 70 trees and sold almost all of them. This year we only bought 20, and still we could not sell them all," Ramadan told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Ramadan went on to say that trees are selling for half of last year's price. "Last year each tree was sold for LE50, but this year we sell each for around LE30, so as not to lose our capital."

The weak demand this year was the worst in the last eight years, according to Ramadan. "Three months ago people lost interest in buying plants and flowers," he said. He remembers the old days, when he would make between LE600 to LE700 each day.

Journalist Jailan Hassan believes that the financial crisis is affecting everyone these days. But she bought her tree as usual anyhow. She just tried harder to fit the purchase into her budget, so as to be able to keep up the ritual.