Thessaloniki: Traffic increased by 25% in pastry shops and Christmas items

Crazy chocolate reindeer just arrived from the North Pole, Christmas carousel with delicious treats, chocolate matches inspired by the fairy tale “the little girl with matches”, Christmas cocktails with gingerbread, colorful and bright decorations in original designs, Christmas trees for all ages ouch , imaginative showcases and of course the traditional dishes – melomakarona and kourabiedes, compose a fairy-tale Christmas scene in the center of Thessaloniki.

Just a few weeks before Christmas and the New Year and Thessaloniki has already started counting down. The city center may not have “dressed” in its holiday clothes yet, but festive touches have already changed the scene. A giant bear, 5 meters high, dominates next to the Christmas tree, in the “heart” of the central market “Modiano”, stealing impressions, while almost all the shop windows put visitors and residents of the city in a Christmas mood.

Original sweet suggestions – 25% increase in traffic in pastry shops

“This year traffic is already up about 25% in relation to last year” noted the owner of the pastry shop Giorgos Avgeros and referring to the first choices of consumers, which are also the most original holiday proposals, he said: “We appeal more to children who love Christmas. So, this year the crazy chocolate reindeer and penguins we created, the chocolate matches from the well-known fairy tale that they choose to buy as an original Christmas gift in a nice package, have become popular. We have also made magical lanterns, a carousel with wonderful sweets and a whole village of boxes, which are filled with lots of chocolate truffles, cookies and decorations.”

Prices of traditional Christmas sweets rose 8%

The prices of traditional Christmas foods will be higher this year as the president of the Thessaloniki bakers, Elisavet Koukumeria, explains to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency, the continuous increases in oil, butter, honey and nuts have raised the prices of honey macaroons and kourabiedes by one euro.

Specifically, as Ms. Koukumeria said, the increase is 7% to 8% and the prices for honey macarons are between 12 and 14 euroswhile last year they cost from 11 to 13 euros and the curabiedes from 13 to 16 euros that they had last year, this year they were sold from 14 to 18 euros as the butter increased by about 30%.

Of course, for those who choose more distinct flavors in the kourabiedes and melomakaroni, they will be asked to reach deeper into their pockets. “Handmade kourabiedes reach 21.95 euros per kilowhile the honey macaroons coated with Belgian chocolate are 23.95 euros per kilo” notes Nikolai Nikolaev, pastry shop manager.

Macarons and cupcakes have their fair share of decorations – 20% increase in movement

“This year sweets will definitely win the hearts of consumers and some designs are almost sold out. There is a trend in the most modern ornament that looks like a work of art. Such as macarons, cupcakes, doughnuts, cakes, candies and in pink and pastel colors, all made of blown glass,” points out Theodoros Kelesidis, owner of a shop with Christmas decorations. He notes, however, that the love for the traditional ornament remains, the price of which starts from one euro and can reach, if it is a collector’s item, up to 50 euros.

“This year we are also working with a family company, a cottage industry from Poland, with a tradition of 100 years in the manufacture of handmade ornaments. They have designs of ornaments from the 1800s in their hands!” he excitedly points out and describes how “there are ornaments that represent houses, a carousel, a fireplace, an impressive cuckoo clock, of which there is only one left, a Vespa, bicycles with gifts and a vintage radio, which is really ready to play.”

“christmas spirit” cocktail with gingerbread flavor, the proposal for Christmas

For those who …walk at night, there are also Christmas proposals in cocktails, such as “christmas spirit” with gingerbread flavor. “This year’s proposal is an old fashion cocktail. Whiskey with honey, which we prepare together with melomakarono. We serve it with a big piece of ice so that it doesn’t melt and it doesn’t get watery and we garnish it with crunchy melomakarono” explains bar owner and bartender Argyris Mastrogiannidis.

Slow movement in clothing and footwear

“In general, traffic is more sluggish than other years, many choose to proceed to online shopping instead of visiting physical stores, as a result of which traffic has decreased by 20% in clothing and up to 30% in footwear” underlines Thodoros-Nikos Chionidis, a member of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, and explains that “online stores make big discounts that are difficult for us to follow and naturally, consumers choose online shopping”.

“Most stores show a decrease in traffic, with product prices being lower compared to last year and with bigger discounts to attract people to clothing and footwear,” says clothing and footwear store owner Christos Hatzinikolaou.