Santa is coming to town

Santa’s arrival at the malls kicks off the official start to the holiday shopping season. Christmas in the Tropics, that is the theme of this year’s Orchard Road light-up (usual lights adorning trees and bright shop front decor). President SR Nathan turned on the switch for the light-up, which this year will be extended to the Marina Bay, Tanglin and Scotts area as well.   After several seasons of lackluster sales, retailers are hoping for a bang this holiday season. Forecasters predict holiday sales should come in between 5 percent higher than last year.  A recent shopping survey found that many of the popular toys are the same as last year - Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Hello Kitty. These are all comeback toys from years past.  This is also the season for giving to the less fortunate; donation boxes have been set up to collect donations for 350,000 individuals.

Updated On: 15.02.10