Bustling shopping scene before Tet (Lunar New Year).

Wealthy customers spend billions of dong to buy apricot blossom trees.

Since last weekend, spring flower markets in Ho Chi Minh City have been bustling with visitors and shoppers. Notably, despite the difficult economic situation, it's not uncommon for customers to spend billions of VND to acquire the most beautiful flower trees for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations.

Present at the Phu My Hung Spring Flower Market (District 7), dubbed the "rich man's" flower market because it always features the most unique and rare ornamental plants costing billions of VND. This year, although the quantity has decreased slightly, there is no shortage of high-end products. Around 11 am on February 4th (the 25th day of the 12th lunar month), under the scorching sun of 34-35 degrees Celsius, the market was still bustling thanks to the increasing number of customers. Most customers arrived by car, each vehicle carrying at least 5-7 pots of various types of chrysanthemums, tiger chrysanthemums, daisies, daffodils, peonies, marigolds, etc. The price of these decorative flowers ranges from 200,000 to 400,000 VND per pair.

One of the four yellow apricot blossom trees was priced at over 1 billion VND.

Ms. Ngoc Thu, who lives in the Phu My Hung area, said that in previous years she bought several old apricot blossom trees to enjoy, and after Tet (Lunar New Year), she took them to a nursery to hire someone to take care of them. Thanks to professional gardeners, her apricot blossoms bloomed perfectly for Tet every year, looking very beautiful. Therefore, she only needed to buy about a dozen other types of flowers to decorate her house, and it was already vibrant with the colors of spring. "Spring is the season when plants and flowers bloom and bear fruit. Without the vibrant colors of flowers, the Tet atmosphere would be diminished. I spend money on flowers, but in return, I get a feeling of joy, excitement, good luck, and prosperity in life for the start of a new year," Ms. Thu shared.

Perhaps sharing that same sentiment, on the afternoon of the 25th day of the lunar month, at this flower market, a customer finalized an order worth over 1 billion VND for four large apricot blossom trees to take home. The owner of the QC apricot blossom garden said that besides this "high-paying" customer, they also sold another ancient apricot blossom tree worth nearly 300 million VND. For these "billion-VND" orders, the garden owner has to hire a crane to transport the trees directly to the customer's home. According to our observations, in just one weekend morning, most of the high-value apricot blossom trees from the QC garden were sold out. The remaining products are cheaper, costing around a few tens of millions of VND each. A representative of the garden owner said that if customers need more, they still have unique and rare items in the garden and can deliver them directly to their homes. "Because it's so close to Tet (Lunar New Year), I can't bring more goods to the flower market, but if customers have a need, we can still fulfill it," the seller said.

Gardeners at the 23.9 Park flower market are busy closing deals.

At the "rich people's" flower market, beautiful apricot blossom trees are priced at 700-800 million VND/tree; medium-sized ones cost from 10-30 million VND/tree are abundant. Similarly, large Nha Trang chrysanthemums are priced at around 8-10 million VND/pair, medium-sized at 6 million VND/pair, and small at around 4 million VND/pair, also in abundance.

While the Phu My Hung flower market is bustling with activity, both in terms of weather and price, the flower market at 23.9 Park remains cool even at midday. Under the shade of ancient trees, dozens of different flower varieties display their vibrant colors; nearby restaurants and cafes play celebratory spring music; many young couples, families, and tourists take advantage of the opportunity to take souvenir photos… giving the feeling that Tet (Lunar New Year) is truly near. Because it's a central market, the atmosphere here is much more lively than elsewhere. A middle-aged customer who bought dozens of large orchid pots and many large peach blossom trees said that these flowers would be delivered to several temples in the city as offerings. This has been her tradition for many years, and each year she allocates several hundred million dong for this purpose.

Nguyen Van Tu, a garden owner specializing in selling chrysanthemums and marigolds, shared: "Growing a beautiful pot of flowers is very hard work, but the Tet flower market only lasts a few days each year. This year is difficult, so Mr. Tu's garden has proactively reduced prices compared to last year, with flowers priced at only 200,000 - 400,000 VND per pair. We hope that people in the city will support the garden owners and traders, buying flowers early to display for Tet so that we can also enjoy the joy of celebrating New Year's Eve with our families," Mr. Tu honestly said.

Food items are in high demand, while luxury goods are selling poorly.

It wasn't until the past weekend that people in Ho Chi Minh City started busily shopping in preparation for the upcoming Tet holiday. At noon on February 4th, at Thiso Mall in Thu Duc City, shoppers crowded the E-mart supermarket floor, with food, confectionery, and household goods being the most popular choices. Mr. Bui Tuong Nhan, a resident of An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City, said: "Taking advantage of the days leading up to Tet, my family and I went shopping to buy a few more things to prepare for the holiday. We've already stocked up on food, so today we're just buying some more confectionery and instant noodles for the kids." According to observations by a Thanh Nien reporter, the checkout area at E-mart was operating at full capacity, with all counters open to process payments as quickly as possible. However, the number of customers queuing to pay was much higher than usual.

At the MM Mega Market supermarket on Song Hành Street, Thu Duc City, the number of shoppers on the weekend also increased significantly. Waiting in line for a long time at the checkout counter, Ms. Doan Thuy, a resident of Binh Thanh District, shared: "I usually choose to buy wholesale food and milk for my children here to get discounts. With only a few days left until Tet (Lunar New Year), I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to buy items for display, offerings, and to stock up on food like meat, eggs, and fish for the long holiday." The Co.opmart supermarket system also recorded a high increase in the number of shoppers.

At the Co.opmart supermarket on Hanoi Highway in Thu Duc City, customers flocked to buy food, dried goods, and household items, crowding the checkout area. Ms. Le Bich Phuong, a resident of Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, commented: "This year the economy is difficult. I work as a nanny and have been unemployed for several months. My husband's company also reduced salaries due to fewer orders. Even so, we still have to stock up on food as Tet approaches. I heard that many people are going back to their hometowns for Tet early, but I didn't expect there to still be so many shoppers in Thu Duc City."

The vendors were busy weighing and measuring at An Dong market yesterday morning (the 25th day of the 12th lunar month).

Similarly, at Van Hanh Mall, the number of visitors for leisure, shopping, and entertainment increased significantly on weekends. However, non-essential areas such as fashion and footwear remained relatively quiet, with visitors mainly concentrated on the ground floor selling food, discounted goods, and essential household items. The situation was similar at Hung Vuong Plaza in District 5. Many brands offered discounts of 30-70% on the ground floor, but very few customers came to shop.

"These products are almost sold out, with insufficient sizes, so the company is having a clearance sale," said a sales employee at a clothing company. Other areas in the shopping mall selling luxury items such as fashion clothing, handbags, watches, and phones were mostly deserted, with many sales staff idly scrolling through their phones to pass the time.

Tet gift baskets are flooding the market, and sale items are spilling onto the streets.

Surveys at major traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City show that buying and selling activity remains quite modest compared to expectations of a strong increase in demand in the final week before the Tet holiday. In previous years, districts such as Tan Binh, District 5, and District 6 were the areas that prepared for Tet earliest due to the presence of many wholesale markets and streets specializing in supplying goods in bulk. However, by the 25th day of the 12th lunar month, according to observations by Thanh Nien reporters, the number of buyers, sellers, and goods had significantly decreased.

In particular, wholesale goods have almost disappeared, with only a few retail customers. At Tan Binh Market, the scene of packing goods for shipment to other provinces had virtually vanished by February 4th. Instead, many stalls in the market and surrounding areas have closed for the Tet holiday. Stalls with large quantities of unsold goods are piling them up on the surrounding streets, displaying "unprecedentedly cheap" sale signs. A fashionable dress, which normally sells for 220,000-250,000 VND wholesale and 280,000-350,000 VND retail, is now being sold for a flat price of 120,000 VND/piece. Similarly, men's jeans are piled up at 60,000-65,000 VND/piece, and men's shirts at 40,000 VND/piece.

"The year-end sale is for the poor, those busy with work who haven't had time to buy Tet clothes... After a year of buying and selling, if they're short on cash at the end of the year, they can still buy a new outfit for less than half the price of a few days ago. Many people wait for the year-end sale; why not buy? After the new year, the prices will go back up to normal," said Ms. Dieu, a seller of sale items on Le Minh Xuan Street (Tan Binh District). Even traditional Tet dresses for children and adults are heavily discounted to clear out excess inventory.

Supermarkets opened all their checkout counters to process customer payments.

Similarly, at An Dong Market (District 5), most customers are buying individual fashion items, but even those are few. Many stall owners sigh, saying they mainly opened their stalls to collect debts before the Tet holiday, as selling fashion items at this time is no longer profitable. More comforting is the bustling activity in the basement of An Dong Market, where customers are still buying dried goods, jams, candies, and nuts. Many stalls are crowded with people waiting in long lines, making it impossible to get through. Sellers are constantly weighing and calculating prices. Most customers are overseas Vietnamese and Chinese, each buying many different types of dried goods, jams, and candies, packing them into boxes to take away. "Dried goods can be sold until close to Tet; regular customers and regulars still come to buy until the 29th of Tet. Prices haven't increased or decreased; they're the same as they were half a month ago," said Ms. Nhung, a vendor at An Dong Market.

Walking around Ben Thanh Market in District 1, the shopping scene on the weekend before Tet (Lunar New Year) was quite deserted, with fruit stalls almost empty. Foreign tourists mainly concentrated in the food area or shopped for traditional Tet sweets and snacks. In front of the Ben Thanh Market gate, a Tet food market had been decorated, attracting quite a few visitors who came to take pictures and enjoy the food. The Tet atmosphere was concentrated in this area, rather than inside the market.

Notably, the market for Tet gift baskets has officially become saturated. Along streets like An Duong Vuong, Hung Vuong, Au Co, Ba Thang Hai, and Chau Van Liem, which specialize in selling Tet gift baskets, by the 25th day of the 12th lunar month, both buyers and sellers have seen a sharp decline. On An Duong Vuong street, owners of large fruit shops displayed Tet gift baskets containing candies, wine, jams, nuts, etc., from very early on, but sales were very slow. Sales staff at a gift basket stall on Chau Van Liem street (District 5) sadly said that there were absolutely no wholesale buyers, only retail customers, and even then, only those buying low-value baskets under 1 million VND. Large, luxurious gift baskets priced over 1.8 million VND were not inquired about at all.

At 11:45 AM, at the largest Tet gift basket shop on An Duong Vuong Street, two customers came to buy gift baskets for a wedding, priced at 590,000 VND. The seller said the lowest price here is 550,000 VND per basket, and the 590,000 VND basket includes a can of Coca-Cola imported from Japan. The seller said this was the third customer of the day. Meanwhile, the store is displaying an estimated 200 gift baskets of various types, valued from 550,000 to 2.5 million VND. At the TT store on Ba Thang Hai Street, two women came in to buy two Tet gift baskets, each worth 1.45 million VND after a 50,000 VND discount. "The goods are mostly dry goods, confectionery, wine, and soft drinks. If they don't sell before Tet, we'll sell them after Tet. The goods haven't expired, so there's no question of lowering prices or selling at a loss," said the owner of a Tet goods store on Ba Thang Hai Street firmly.

As predicted, demand for Tet (Lunar New Year) goods has decreased significantly this year. However, the festive atmosphere, flavors, and scents of Tet have permeated everywhere. As we write this article, the streets are still filled with more and more Tet gift baskets, trucks carrying peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, and marigolds. The vibrant colors reflect the hope for a warmer and more peaceful new spring.

According to the General Statistics Office, in January 2024, trade and service activities were quite vibrant, serving the consumer needs of people during the Lunar New Year holiday. Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in January 2024 were estimated at VND 524,100 billion, an increase of 1.6% compared to the previous month and an increase of 8.1% compared to the same period in 2023. This is a fairly high increase, but still lower than the 13.3% increase in the same period last year. If the price factor is excluded, according to the General Statistics Office, the increase was 5.8%, also lower than the 9.1% figure of the same period last year. According to a 2023 ASEAN consumer sentiment research report published by UOB Bank in November 2023, Vietnamese consumers remain quite optimistic, with 76% of respondents expecting their personal finances to improve by June 2024, higher than 74% in Indonesia and 68% in Thailand.

Over 1,000 specialty products from 30 provinces and cities flocked to the "Green Tet - Vietnamese Gifts" market in Ho Chi Minh City.

From February 3rd to 6th, at 135A Pasteur Street, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, the Center for Business Research and Support, together with the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Businesses, organized the "Green Tet - Vietnamese Gifts" market to serve the Tet holiday. The market sold nearly 1,000 specialty agricultural products for the Tet holiday, open to consumers from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM each day. The most impressive aspect of the market was the selection of specialties from various localities that are not easily available to Ho Chi Minh City residents on a regular basis. For example, Thanh Hoa spring rolls, wrapped in banana leaves, grilled, and then rolled with fig and betel leaves, were offered to customers by the Thanh Hoa specialty stall owner; or the traditional sticky rice cake from the ancestral land, made from very sticky and fragrant glutinous rice. The mung beans used for the filling must be small, whole beans… In addition, modern products such as soy sauce made from coconut nectar, carp-shaped steamed buns… are also introduced at this market. This is the 10th Tet market organized in Ho Chi Minh City by the Center for Business Research and Enterprise Support.

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