bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Fun products offered to mark the coming Year of the Ox
Vendors at the Lunar New Year  fair in Victoria Park  are looking forward to a prosperous new year following the successful Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo, which ended earlier this month.
Despite the economic downturn, a record 2.16 million people attended the 23-day expo and sales totalled HK$270 million, 20 per cent up on the previous year.
To vendors such as the students of QualiEd College,  the success of the expo increased their confidence in the Lunar New Year fair.
'The expo showed that people still had money to spare. I am optimistic,' said Ryan Yan Pat-to,  teacher-in-charge of a group of Form Six  business students, who were responsible for running their stall.
The students will sell self-designed  toys, resembling a stick of beefballs with new year greetings printed on them. Mr Yan said they had especially designed the product for the Year of the Ox.
Although he was optimistic about sales, he said they would not raise prices, as people had become more cautious about their spending.
'We might still make a profit with a lower selling price, as the cost was also lower,' he said.
Aska So Ka-wai,  who will also sell self-designed products, said he was confident the stall could break even.
'The Lunar New Year fair is only held once a year and people will visit no matter what,' he said.
But he added that prices could not be lowered as costs were quite high.
'The  yuan has become more expensive and so we need to pay more for the products,' he said.
Mr So and his  friends, who have never been vendors at the fair, would sell cushions and long  pillows that resemble food, soft drinks and oxen. He expected his major source of customers to be young people who were more interested in 'cute' products.
So Chuen-moon  said he would like to make his products special by distancing them from the Year of the Ox. 'Too many people are selling inflated oxen dolls, so I am selling something different.'
His stall will offer inflated dolls of iPhones  and lipstick, as he believes these are the products that will interest young people.
Doll and handicraft wholesaler Leung Tak-yuen  said most vendors preferred plush toys this year, as inflated dolls had became commonplace in the past two years. He said  his orders had fallen by  20 per cent this year, which might be the result of the economic downturn and the fact   Lunar New Year was earlier this year.
'It takes at least a month from ordering to delivery. We do not have enough time, as some vendors only contacted us this month,' he said.
New Year fairs will run from  tomorrow until January 26 at 14 venues around the city, including Victoria Park, Fa Hui Park  in Sham Shui Po and Morse Park  in Wong Tai Sin.



Traders are confident ahead of Lunar New Year fair