Traders at Balogun Market, Lagos, on Saturday, witnessed sales boom as the 2012 Valentine’s Day celebration approached.
Valentine’s Day is celebrated annually on Feb. 14 worldwide.
Mrs Idayat Kasali, who owns a floral shop at the market, said that she has sold more rose and tulip flowers in the last two weeks, noting that flowers were suitable for expressing love.
“Valentine is a day to show love to people. Artificial flowers can be used to express love, warmth and affection. I have been selling more of roses and tulips for two weeks now.
“Contrary to what people think, Nigerian ladies appreciate flowers. A lot of men have been coming here to purchase flowers which they would give as a gift to their loved ones on Valentine’s Day.'' she said.
She said that a bouquet of rose flowers was bing sold for between N3,000 and N7,000, depending on the colours, as against N1,500 and N3,000 before this season.
Mrs Eunice Eberechukwu, who owns a boutique, told NAN that people usually bought more of red coloured clothes during the Valentine season.
“We have made more sales in the last three days. Many people have been coming to buy clothes that they will wear on Valentine’s Day.
“Some of them even make special demands for clothes we don’t have in stock. We have to meet these demands before Tuesday.
“People have been buying mostly red and white coloured clothes because red is the colour of love. We have sold more red shirts, dresses and jackets, “ Eberechukwu said.
Another trader, Mrs Remilekun Adebisi, said that there had been a remarkable increase in the sale of specially made Valentine hampers in her shop.
“We have been selling specially made hampers which can be given as gifts on Valentine’s Day. The hampers are sold between N5,000 and N15,000, depending on their content.
“We usually include assorted wines and fruit juices, teddy bears, chocolates, apples and perfumes in the hampers. Some people, however, request that we add other things at a higher fee,'' she said.
A buyer, Patricia Nwafor, decried the hike in the prices of commodities during this period, saying: “Whenever there is an upcoming celebration like Valentine’s Day, market women usually see it as an opportunity to jack up the prices of their goods and services,''.
“A medium sized Valentine cake was sold for N8,000 as against the usual N4,000. Why are they doing this? Is it not the same ingredients they will use to bake the cakes on days that are not Valentine’s Day?“ Nwafor asked.