Festive T-shirts, bargain buys at Sinulog booths

There’s a lot to offer from children’s toys to festive T-shirts in the booths that opened along Osmeña Boulevard for the Sinulog.

If you walk down the street near Abellana National School and City Central Elementary School, more than 40 booths are open from 10 a.m. to 12 midnight.

T-shirts are always a hit. To get better sales vendors strive for new designs.

Booth keeper Nino Manila uses gold, silver and metallic highlights, as well as  luminous colors for  children’s and  women’s shirts.

“We’ve  updated our T-shirt  designs. The  only one that hasn’t changed is  the one with the Sto.  Niño image,” said  Manila  pointing to shirt with the  easily recognizable icon.

Manila said  they also do color combinations to make the T-shirts more attractive. Customers could also request  colors they want applied on the shirt.

The materials, from coloring agents to the fabric, are all made in the Philippines and of surprisingly good quality.

The price is also affordable – P180 for a free size T-shirt with a design, and  P80 for the labor of printing a T-shirt.

Malongs are also a favorite buyer’s pick.   The all-purpose cotton fabric displayed in the stalls usually come from Thailand and Singapore and sell for P150 to P700, depending on the width and quality.

All of the malongs are batik and branded, which means the color and design won’t easily fade after  several  washings.

Dusters  range from P150 rayon dresses to jumbo size cotton day wear with batik designs for women at P350.

Pas Mina brand scarves, ready for cold or warm weather, cost P300.  Even celebrities like Sen. Bong Revilla bought more than P900 of the scarves last  year, said a vendor.

Cotton sarongs, which can be used as a towel, dress or blanket, go for P180.

Want a batik fan?  It turns into a hat, all for P120.

Good sales talk is crucial in closing a sale, said Justine Sarib, a Muslim Filipino from  Zamboanga City.

He said he’s  been joining the Sinulog booth fairs for the past ten years, offering mainly the same goods.

BOOTH SALES

Sinulog booths opened for business last December 1, 2012 and will stay open till Jan. 31, 2013.

Vendors pay P25,000 to P30,000 per booth for two months occupancy, including electricity.

Since rates haven’t changed much over the year, “that’s very cheap at  P15,000 a month,” said  Ricky Ballesteros, Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director.

Aside from the booths along ANS,  vendors can rent  a booth for one day   for P2,500. The price gets you a  a  table and umbrella along the Sinulog parade route on January 20.

The one-day booth can operate from 9 p.m. of Saturday, Jan. 19 and end at 12 midnight of Sinulog Sunday.

So far, more than 300 persons  have booked the 548 available one-day booths  for the Grand Parade./Correspondent  Christine Emily L. Pantaleon