According to the reporter, in the days leading up to Lunar New Year, the flower and ornamental plant shops in the square of Hoa Binh city were deserted. The vendors sat and waited for hours but only a few customers came by, causing the bustling atmosphere of Tet to suddenly become quiet.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Duc (a trader from Van Giang district, Hung Yen province) shared: "Since December 12, my wife and I have brought nearly 100 kumquat pots to the Hoa Binh City Square area, renting a selling point. However, in the past week, we have only sold 3 pots, with prices fluctuating around 1 million VND per pot."
Right next door, Ms. Bui Thi Diu's Nhat Tan peach shop is not doing much better with 40 pots of fresh peaches from Da Bac district to Hoa Binh city for sale. Each pot of peaches, depending on the type, costs from 1 million to 6 million VND, a fortune that she hopes will bring a warm and prosperous Tet season.
According to Ms. Diu, at this time last year, people were shopping for Tet in large numbers, and companies and businesses were placing many orders, but this year the market is quiet. Most customers just come to look around for a while and then leave.
"Hopefully in the coming days, people will shop more and try to hold on until the afternoon of the 29th of Tet, hoping to salvage their capital," Ms. Diu shared.
Arriving at Nguyen Duy Dong's kumquat stand, the atmosphere was as gloomy as other stands. The group was sitting and sipping tea, surfing their phones, occasionally looking up at passersby.
Sharing in a sad voice, Mr. Dong said: "We invested nearly 100 million VND, imported more than 100 kumquat trees to serve the Tet demand in Hoa Binh, but by the end of December, we had only sold a dozen trees. Although we predicted low purchasing power, the reality is still very bleak."
Not far away, the bonsai stall of Ms. Tran Thuy Tien (a small trader from Ha Nam) is also in a similar situation. "In previous years, after the full moon of December, more than 30% of the goods were sold, but this year, the consumption is less than 10%, even though the price is close to the market price, people are still not interested. With this situation, I just hope to break even," Ms. Tien said.
