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Istanbul, Turkey | Xinhua | Turkey’s economic woes have impacted flower and gift sales ahead of Valentine’s Day, as consumers have been forced to give priority to basic needs such as food products.
“It is very difficult to sell a single rose for 40 Turkish liras (about 3 U.S. dollars) in times of economic hardships, so lovers will have to make do with a bouquet of narcissus or daisies,” Ayfer Seckin, a florist in Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, told Xinhua.
Seckin said that she and her husband, who own the shop in the Taksim neighborhood in downtown Istanbul, have been frequenting flower auctions for several days to find the affordable ones ahead of Valentine’s Day.
However, shop owners, florists, and souvenir vendors seem not to be doing brisk business this year as customers complain about the high cost of gifts.
“The cost for flowers, especially roses have almost doubled for Valentine’s Day, but we raised our prices by only 20 percent,” Seckin said.
“Sales are already low, and this is a one-day event. I hope that it would be better on Monday, but I doubt it, perhaps we can save the day with last-minute shoppers,” the florist added.
The monthly minimum wage became 4,250 liras (about 314 dollars) in Turkey, after a record hike of 50 percent for 2022. So a single rose costs about 1 percent and an entire bouquet 10 percent of the wage earned by millions of workers in the country.
“A gift might have been good, but this year it’s all about the economy, so I have to be careful of how I spend my already limited money,” Sencer Aydin, a university student, told Xinhua in a shop in the busy Kadikoy district, located on the Asian side of the city.
Bargains are at hand for young people in this neighborhood, well-known for its coffeehouses, bars, and a plethora of shops with wide-ranging prices. Gift shops have displayed an array of gift hampers for customers to purchase for their lovers.
“We will meet somewhere here with my girlfriend on Monday and have a meal possibly together,” Aydin said, adding that the price of menus offered by restaurants has also been hiked along with everything else in the country struggling with rampant inflation.
Official data for January showed inflation rose to 48.69 percent annually and is expected to rise in the year, despite governmental measures to help households who saw their purchasing power decline in the past year amid a currency slump.
“Everything has become more expensive, restaurants, cinemas, alcohol, and bars, so for young people this is a real problem, and the money we receive from our parents goes to necessities, such as food and clothing,” Aydin added.
There is still the fuss and buzz on social media about Valentine’s Day, which focused on shopping, mostly online, with bargains offered by e-commerce platform such as Trendyol, backed by Chinese Internet company Alibaba.
To overcome costly bar and restaurant bills, young people have turned to house parties to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the “bring your own drink” motto, the local press reported.
As a fresh measure in favor of consumers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a significant reduction in taxes on basic food supplies on Saturday. The value-added tax would be lowered to 1 percent from 8 percent on food purchases, he said.
