Christmas shopping frenzy at Hanoi’s Chua Boc fashion street
On the 25th of Chạp (4/2), people flocked to the “capital” of Chua Boc fashion street (Dong Da district, Hanoi) to shop for clothes and shoes. In recent days, this street has been constantly congested due to the crowdedness of customers gathering at stores offering massive discounts before Tet holidays.
Most of the clothing, accessories, and shoe stores here are launching numerous discount programs with enticing advertisements.
Along Chua Boc street, it’s crowded everywhere with shopping enthusiasts. Customers are overflowing onto the road, searching for parking spots as many stores are running out of space.
Many customers have to accept parking their vehicles on the road in order to enter the stores. However, there are also many who leave without succeeding in squeezing their way in.
Clearance items are piled up on the sidewalks, attracting a large number of customers to come and make their selections.
“Shirts from excess exports are being sold for only 100,000 – 150,000 VND/piece. These are cheap prices for surplus stock,” advertised an owner of a store.
Almost all customers have the mentality of hunting for cheap products during Tet, as prices are lower than usual. Therefore, a large number of people have been converging on fashion stores in recent days.
Due to the overwhelming number of customers, stores are utilizing mobile clothing racks on the sidewalks to attract more customers.
As night falls, stores become even more crowded. Many places run out of sizes and even run out of products. Quite a few customers cannot find the desired items to purchase.
Customers line up for payment. “During these days, the highest number of customers comes around 3 PM, 4 PM, and even after 10 PM the store is still packed. My store has to rearrange, work overtime, and recruit more staff to serve. However, there are times when it’s too late or when we run out of products, we have to ask customers to close the store,” shared an employee of a store.
Many guys have to park their vehicles outside and wait as there is no more parking space on the sidewalks.
Customers heading home after struggling through the shopping chaos.
Many customers express that stores advertise unbelievable discounts of 90% or 80%, but those are only for old stock, clearance items or low-quality products. Disappointingly, many expect something different after going to such lengths to visit these stores during the sale season.
The flow of customers remains steady even late at night; the fashion street is still bustling and crowded.
