EASTERN PROVINCE

Shoppers jam Nyagatare town to buy Christmas attires, presents and food for the festive season. Its boom time for shop owners in Nyagatare as festive season  moved closer  towards Christmas day.

The banks are predicting a record level of cash withdrawals in the run-up to Christmas as expenditure among the bank’s clientele is expected to increase.

Several shop cashed on the festive season to stock goods over and above the normal levels. ‘Even if business has been rather low during the course of the year, all the signs are that they will be making up this gap during this festive season’, said Eve Sumwiza, a shopkeeper.

December is a crucial time for many traders , and on the various town streets, the battle is on to take advantage of the festive season to record additional sales especially in the run up to Christmas.

The shops are fighting tooth and nail to get customers with shops opening for a record 16 hours a day. One of the most critical trading items for Christmas includes clothing for various sizes with most shoppers preferring to buy popular urban styles be for it rural or urban households.

‘This is a symbol of the matching tastes existing between rural and urban residents’, said, Eduardo Nzabona, who owns a garments shop in Nyagatare.

The issue of western styles on display at the town streets range from the elegant clothes to the bizarre, a sign many perceive to be a direct influence of western countries upon the style of dressing up within Eastern Province.

Ends