THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as children are busy enjoying their summer vacation, shops in the capital city are all set to welcome the new academic year. The government stores have already opened their students’ special markets with various items like bags and uniforms to pens and pencils. By the end of May, the sales are expected to reach the zenith. The Consumerfed Triveni School Market which used to be set up near Pankaj Hotel, Statue, till last year has been shifted to the back of Saphalyam Complex at Palayam. The store, which opened four days back, will continue till mid-June. Apart from notebooks of varying sizes, umbrellas, bags, lunch boxes and smaller stationery items are available here. Salespersons say that umbrellas have some attractive varieties with printed pictures of Tom and Jerry, Barbie dolls, elephants, rabbits, Spiderman, strawberry and a lot more. Umbrellas of well-known brands for children range from ` 200 to ` 300. Notebook prices start at ` 6 (small, 96 pages) and the highest price is ` 18 (king-size, 192 pages). School bags are given a discount of ` 40, 60 and 100 for small, medium and large respectively. Except for the notebooks, all other items are said to have witnessed a price-rise when compared to last year. Another new attraction is the ‘Hot and Fresh’ lunch with bag set which costs between ` 188 and ` 400. The stall is open from 9.30 am to 7.30 pm. The Government Secretariat Staff Cooperative Society Students’ Market is open up to July 15. One of the staff, Santhosh P Kurien, said that the store has become lively over the last three days. It is open from 10 am to 7 pm on all days. Secretary C P Jayaram and treasurer P Pradeep Kumar said all items sold here are authorised. ‘’We have put up the largest store ever this year and the number of customers is also higher,’’ they said. All the items can be accessed with a discount of 15-20 per cent in MRP. The lunch bag which was in great demand last year is available in new forms and sizes from ` 50 to ` 150. Notebook prices are fixed at ` 6, 8, 12, 18 and 24 according to size and number of pages. Graph book and drawing book cost ` 9 each. Both the stores are specially known for their notebooks, the price of which has remained the same as last year. Only Scoobee Day bags are available in both the places. Interestingly, both stores have regular customers who visit them every year without fail. Though the primary intention is to avail some reduction from MRP, they are convinced of the quality as well. “I am a regular customer of the cooperative society store for the last 5-6 years. The prices are low and the quality is good. The greatest benefit is that we get all things from here and need not roam around unnecessarily.” said Sheela K R from Thirumala, an LIC agent.
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