Cape Town - Easter holiday preparations have begun and families are looking forward to hunting for bargains to make the most of the feasting associated with the Christian holiday.
From street vendors to retailers, the foot count at shopping malls has increased with customers purchasing the necessities. Fishmongers from Athlone and Hout Bay have been busy for three weeks. Despite the good profit earned by this group, their main issue is the lack of snoek.
Jerry Syce, a vendor from Athlone said, “We are normally very busy around Easter. By 2pm I will be expected to get another load to sell. My prices range from R180 to R250, depending on the size of the fish.”
Charmaine Phillips from Hout Bay said, “I have been busy three weeks. The Easter festival is here in Hout Bay. I have stock of almost everything besides snoek, the people responsible for getting it for us are on strike, or so I hear.”
Consumers will pay around R100/kg for hake.
The average price of a six-pack of hot cross buns will be more than a loaf of bread at R20, with chocolate-filled niche bakes an extra R5.
Customers at Canal Walk were seen making good use of the “Easter village” provided for them close to the food court. The area had been turned into a mini market with all sorts of chocolates, Easter eggs and sweets for the coming long weekend.
From Monday last week, Checkers at Canal Walk decided to make use of the area, creating a village for their Easter customers. According to a manager, the aim was to make their Easter shoppers shop comfortable without being in a mix with grocery shoppers.
“Our customers are familiar with this set-up, we make sure that each year we provide a safe space for them to shop only for Easter. They appreciate it as it only caters for their Easter needs especially when shopping with kids, kids hate shopping but with this area it is better because they get nothing but the chocolate feel which they love,” said Lyle Mannie.
A family of three shopping at the Checkers Easter village seemed excited as this will be their first time spending Easter together.
“This will be our first time celebrating Easter together. We are going to make this weekend a family thing. We are here to shop Easter eggs for our baby girl so she can hunt together with her friends.
“For Easter I wish people could learn to be patient for as long as possible. Things may take 5 or 10 years but eventually something will come out of the wait,” said Phumla Siphambo.
Manenberg resident and soccer team manager, Maurita Foten, 49, said she loves a “special” and does a price comparison almost every month.
“It’s terrible this year because everything went up and it’s quite challenging, because even your rent goes up, so you can’t have the big spread like you used to,” she said.