Floral picks: Loh Sew Fong was among the customers seen choosing flowers at a nursery here in Johor Baru to decorate her house this Chinese New Year. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Despite a slight dip in customers over the past few days due to the rain, nurseries here expect brisk sales as Chinese New Year draws closer.
Michael Ng, who runs a nursery in Permas Jaya, said many of his customers started shopping for popular Chinese New Year plants earlier this year.
“Usually, preparations for Chinese New Year are in full swing about two to three weeks before the festival, but it seems to have started earlier this year.
“This has helped cover the slight drop in customers we experienced over the past few days because of the wet and gloomy weather.
“However, I believe people will still go out to buy these plants as Chinese New Year approaches, even if the weather remains the same,” he said.
Ng, 48, added that plants such as orange and kumquat trees, chrysanthemums, lucky bamboo and orchids remain popular choices.“I have decided not to raise the prices of our plants despite an increase in costs of about 10% to 15%,” he said, adding that he hopes higher customer turnout will offset the additional costs.
Nursery manager Chong Jun Jie, 30, said there is a slight increase in sales for Chinese New Year this year compared to the previous year.
“The rain has indeed affected business, with fewer customers coming in. However, when the rain stops, the crowds return.
“In fact, sales this year are better than last year, especially earlier this month before the rainy season began,” he said, adding that he expects the crowd to grow 10 days before Chinese New Year.
He added that, apart from locals, the nursery he manages at Danga Sutera here is also frequented by Singaporean visitors.
“They are prohibited from bringing soil into Singapore due to border regulations. As such, they cannot take away potted plants.
“However, they can still purchase lucky bamboo, which is very popular for the Chinese New Year, from here,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johnny Teng, who manages another nursery in Perling, said sales for Chinese New Year this year are even better compared to pre-pandemic years.
“Sales for Chinese New Year have been improving year by year since the Covid-19 pandemic, and I believe this year’s sales will be even better than pre-Covid-19.
“We have also chosen not to increase the price of the plants, and this may have helped drive sales,” he said.
Teng added that the flowers this year are more abundant and fresher compared to the past few years.
“There was a supply shortage in previous years due to weather conditions and because flower farmers were just restarting their operations after the pandemic.
“However, that is no longer an issue now, and the weather has been favourable for flowering plants,” he said.
