High quality, 'Made in Qatar' stationery products are among the highlights of this year's 'Back to School' season which is culminating with the beginning of the new school year Sunday.
Sales of stationery products at local retailers, bookshops and shopping centres across Qatar had considerably increased over the past couple of weeks.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported Friday that there is good stock of all types of stationery products, including notebooks, pens, pencils, colouring materials and other related products in addition to schoolbags with many of these locally produced and labelled 'Made in Qatar.'
A good number of customers and retailers stressed that there is good diversity of school stationery products for different budgets and preferences. Retailers said that sources of importing these products had become multiple after the unjust blockade that was imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on June 7, 2017.
If most of the stationery products used to come to Qatar via Saudi Arabia and the UAE before the blockade, now there are direct shipments from Turkey, China, Indonesia and Japan, leading to a drop of up to 50% in prices.
Some retailers have engaged local manufacturers to produce certain types of notebooks and schoolbags. This has considerably contributed towards reducing the cost and eventually the final retail price, besides being able to supply tailor-made products to suit the preferences of the local customers.
Mohamed Yousef, sales manager of a stationery shop, said the label 'Made in Qatar' has appeared on various high-quality products with reasonable prices, which appeal to the customers more. A notebook of 80 sheets is often sold for QR14.
There are many options for schoolbags adorned with various popular cartoon characters with prices starting from QR45, besides different locally made bags usually used by the students of higher grades, adorned with pictures of football players and other celebrities.
Saood al-Tamimi, a customer, noted that prices of stationery have dropped compared to the previous years, in addition to the emergence of locally produced products, which helped in stabilising the market.
Khalid al-Marzouqi, another customer, stressed that he observed that prices are often lower at stationery shops when compared to shopping centres as the former tend to give wholesale prices to attract more customers.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported Friday that there is good stock of all types of stationery products, including notebooks, pens, pencils, colouring materials and other related products in addition to schoolbags with many of these locally produced and labelled 'Made in Qatar.'
Shoppers at a stationery retailer in Doha
A good number of customers and retailers stressed that there is good diversity of school stationery products for different budgets and preferences. Retailers said that sources of importing these products had become multiple after the unjust blockade that was imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on June 7, 2017.
If most of the stationery products used to come to Qatar via Saudi Arabia and the UAE before the blockade, now there are direct shipments from Turkey, China, Indonesia and Japan, leading to a drop of up to 50% in prices.
Some retailers have engaged local manufacturers to produce certain types of notebooks and schoolbags. This has considerably contributed towards reducing the cost and eventually the final retail price, besides being able to supply tailor-made products to suit the preferences of the local customers.
Mohamed Yousef, sales manager of a stationery shop, said the label 'Made in Qatar' has appeared on various high-quality products with reasonable prices, which appeal to the customers more. A notebook of 80 sheets is often sold for QR14.
There are many options for schoolbags adorned with various popular cartoon characters with prices starting from QR45, besides different locally made bags usually used by the students of higher grades, adorned with pictures of football players and other celebrities.
Saood al-Tamimi, a customer, noted that prices of stationery have dropped compared to the previous years, in addition to the emergence of locally produced products, which helped in stabilising the market.
Khalid al-Marzouqi, another customer, stressed that he observed that prices are often lower at stationery shops when compared to shopping centres as the former tend to give wholesale prices to attract more customers.
