All I want for Christmas… BRaa‚¬a„¢s gift ideas

Christmas comes but once a year – to the chagrin of retailers. Business Review looks at how the festive season is likely to impact the beleaguered retail market this year, before getting down to the serious business in hand: what to buy the man or woman who has everything? Whether it’s tango or tablets, bikes or baking that your loved one loves, we can suggest the presents to spread festive cheer at the end of a testing economic year. Ho ho ho!

Staff

 

Statistics on local household consumption suggest retailers’ prospects for holiday season sales are providing little reason for Yuletide cheer. A recent GfK study found that household consumption had gone down 5 percent when expressed in the national currency, compared to the first three quarters of 2010. Analysts say this is because Romanian shoppers have got accustomed to pay more attention to what they are buying.

Non-essential non-food products registered the biggest value drop, of more than 9 percent, the main reason being a drop in shopping frequency. Larger products and hypermarkets’ own brands have gained a lot of ground in this context, although, compared to other countries in Eastern Europe, the value of own brands in the total FMCG mix is one of the lowest: 5 percent compared to the 18 percent average.

When it comes to Christmas shopping, the statistics seem even less encouraging. Fashion retailers get a glimmer of hope. A survey conducted by GfK CR Academy Brussels on behalf of The Wall Street Journal Europe, which polled 12,750 people in 12 European countries and the US about their gift-giving habits, revealed that half of Europeans plan to give clothing and accessories such as bags or scarves at Xmas, making it the No.1 gift.

Around 31 percent of the Romanians questioned in the survey said they had no plans to spend money this year on Christmas presents. Some 44 percent of respondents were planning to spend from EUR 1-50, 11 percent EUR 51- 100, and 6 percent between EUR 101 and 260. Only around 1 percent of those questioned said they intended to splash out between EUR 250 and EUR 500 on Christmas presents.

The majority of Romanians questioned – around 66 percent – mean to spend less this Christmas than three years ago, with 71 percent of respondents saying they will go shopping in a large store, supermarket or hypermarket. Only 2 percent of those questioned said they would do their shopping online.

Just like other Europeans, Romanians plan on giving clothing and accessories as a gift (59 percent of those who answered), followed by cosmetics (28 percent) and books (10 percent). Read on for more festive gift ideas.

 

Eco and traditional

If you are looking for environmentally-friendly Christmas gifts, trying to send a message about the importance of green behavior at a time of excess or simply looking to support local traditions and products at the end of a tough year, we have listed some eco-options for you below.

 

Topoloveni Gem

The only Romanian product recognized as geographically protected within the EU, the gem is made using a traditional recipe from Topoloveni, in the Arges area of Romania, with no added sugar or preservatives – ideal for maintaining your health over the festive season.

Sonimpex Serv Com revived the brand after 1989, and now packages and sells it.

You can find it in hypermarkets or at traditional product fairs

 

Where to get it: The Christmas fair

When: December 21-23

Where: Bucharest National History

Museum

 

The fair is organized by the Maramures Association of Producers of Traditional and Ecological Products, which brings together independent local producers.

www.maramurestraditional.ro

The Christmas Fair – Peasants Market

When: December 2-23

Where: In the parking lot at Real

Pallady and Real Berceni galleries

 

The fair is organized by Tactic Events, and showcases a large variety of traditionally-made products, as well as hand-crafted products and clothes.

 

Agronomie Fair

When: December 18-23

Where: 61 Marasti Bld, next to the Agricultural Sciences Academy

 

Those interested in buying traditional Romanian food products – perhaps to serve at Christmas dinner – can also check out the fair at Agronomie, The Winter Festival. The organizers say visitors can find there all sorts of gifts in the form of traditional food products.

For those interested in finding out more about the Romanian custom of sacrificing a pig, fair organizers have in store a presentation of all the stages of the process and how to prepare the meat in traditional ways.

 

Other year-round traditional product fairs:

Crangasi Traditional and Ecological Products Fair

The fair is open Thursday to Sunday except for December 23-26, December 30-31, January 1-2.

 

Drumul Taberei Traditional and

Ecological Products Fair

The fair is open Thursday to Sunday except for December 23-26, December 30 -31, January 1-2.

 

Gorjului Traditional and Ecological Products Fair

The fair is open Thursday to Sunday except for December 23-26, December 30-31, January 1-2.

 

The Peasants Fair

The fair takes place every Saturday and Sunday between 9:00 and 16.00 at The Ark (the former Commodities Exchange) on 196, Calea Rahovei. It is organized by the Radu Anton Romania Initiative Group. More info on the fair can be found at www.targultaranului.ro.

 

Cycling

Cycling and the setting-up of lanes for cyclists have been one of the trends of this year, fueled by both a switch towards less polluting means of transportation and a movement towards more healthy, active lifestyles. If you want to take a ride in Bucharest with a new bike, here are some suggestions for you – once the snow has cleared. There’s no better way to shift those few extra Christmas pounds and save yourself petrol money into the bargain!

 

Felt bicycles

are available at the Mos Ion Roata showroom, opened by Emilian Bituleanu, president of Libra Bank, and his wife. Average prices are about EUR 500. More details and prices can be found at www.mosionroata.ro.

 

Velorbis bicycles

Danish-made design and vintage bicycles, Velorbis are available from EUR 680-1,030. More info is at www.velorbis.ro.

 

Brompton bicycles

UK-made foldable Brompton bicycles are available through several local dealers, all listed on the company’s Romanian website www.brompton.ro

 

Other places where you can shop for bicycles are listed below

www.bikezone.ro

www.carrefour.ro

www.veloteca.ro

www.orbea.ro 

 

Charity

 

If you’re looking to give something back this holiday season, a local website charitygift.ro suggests a wide range of options for those wishing to make a donation when buying a gift.  The product providers for the site direct some or all of the purchase price to a social cause they are committed to supporting. If you cannot find the items you were looking for, you can order personalized gifts, and ten percent of the price of the products bought will be donated by the CharityGift Association to an organization selected by the buyer. Elsewhere, a round-up of NGOs and CSR activities can be found in the yearly BR review of philanthropy.

 

Gadgets & IT

 

Christmas is traditionally a time for playing with the latest gadgets! A wide range of options is available for local techies, from the iPad to the latest iPhone model, now available from several local telecom operators. Business Review suggests a few of the big-name ones.

 

iPad

Dubbed by many the tech launch of the year, the iPad is available locally from several online retailers such as Diverta, at dol.ro, emag.ro, or at Media Galaxy stores. Prices range from EUR 627 to EUR 999, depending on the model. Several other tablets are available locally as well.

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab

is available from Orange at EUR 229. It has a 2GB memory that can be extended to 3GB. Another tablet from the same telecom operator is the Orange tablet, whose selling price starts at EUR 99 with a subscription. It has a 7 inch touch screen and was developed on the Android 2.1 operating system.

More info at www.orange.ro.

 

Romania­­n products

The Allview AllDro tablet PC starts at EUR 200. It has a 7 inch display and runs on an Android operating system.

The Evolio Evobook eReader is available at EUR 150 and can also be ordered through www.LibHumanitas.ro. It comes equipped at purchase with content from Mircea Cartarescu, Gabriel Liiceanu, Constantin Noica, and Mateiu I. Caragiale. More titles can be purchased from the Humanitas online store.

 

Fashion

 

The local fashion scene has seen plenty of new talent lately, and many designers are marketing their work intensively in the online world. If you are interested in giving an original piece by a local fashion designer be sure to check some of the websites listed below.

www.marialuciahohan.com

www.zuzahandmade.ro

www.breslo.ro

chouchou.ro

 

Vlieger & Vandam

A new addition for fashionistas are the art bags from Vlieger & Vandam. They are the work of Dutch designers Carolien Vlieger and Hein van Dam, who started their accessories line in 2002. The first collection of bags were produced from second-hand bags and referenced Hitchcock’s Psycho. In 2005 the Museum of Modern Art in New York included them in its Safe, Design Takes In Risk exhibition.

In Romania, they are available through Createur D’Emotions or at:  www.createur5demotions.com

 

Hobbies

Cooking Classes

 

If you want to impress your family or dinner guests with an elaborate Christmas feast, or plan to adopt a new, improved diet in the New Year, and are looking to upgrade your cooking skills accordingly, there are a few places in Bucharest that offer training and even the possibility to rent a professional cook.

 

Société Gourmet

­­offers cookery classes, including private lessons, private chef services and “team cooking” workshops for companies. The most popular classes that the company offers are are corporate team cookery classes and private lessons. “We go to the customer’s home and organize a cooking class for their friends and family,” says Raluca Ichim owner of Société Gourmet.

The cooking style is international and the lessons are priced between EUR 60 and EUR 120. A normal cookery class that teaches a three-course menu and wine pairing is between EUR 59 and EUR 67 per person with water, coffee and recipe booklets included. Prices for team cookery classes vary according to the number of participants, menu chosen and number of workshops. 

For more information visit:

www.societegourmet.ro

 

Car­­ol Parc Hotel

Another option for haute gourmet food aficionados is the five-star Carol Parc Hotel.

Its Haute Gourmet Cooking Lessons are organized in the hotel’s Poem restaurant and include classes such as Cooking with Champagne, Men in the Kitchen, I’m on a Diet!, Sushi with Joy and Sauces of the World. Another two will be added starting November 20 and December 4, Journey to the Middle East and Cakes-Mini Cakes. For RON 200 students learn to cook three courses and at the end get to eat their own creations in the hotel’s restaurant.

For more information go to:        

www.carolparchotel.ro

 

Violetas’s Vintage Kitchen

If you are intered in baking, Violetas’s Vintage Kitchen offers bread and sweet-baking workshops both for adults and children and as of this spring the owner plans to include soup workshops.

The price of a workshop is RON 100.

For more information go to:        

www.violetas.ro

 

Outdoor and… indoor

 

Ice skating

If you find yourself in Bucharest during the holidays and want to take the family on a Christmas outing, ice skating is the most popular option this time of the year. Entry tickets to ice skating rinks in Bucharest usually start at RON 10 and most offer skate rental for around

RON 15.

You can find outdoor ice skating rinks at the Baneasa Shopping City and Sun Plaza shopping centers as well as in the Cismigiu, Herastrau, Tineretului and Unirii parks and the Drumul Taberei neighborhood. Indoor rinks can be found at AFI Palace Cotroceni and Liberty Center malls as well as the Mihai Flamaropol ice skating center and the one located in the Floreasca neighborhood.

 

Horse ri­­­­ding

Another option – provided you remember to wrap up warm – is horse riding.

 Whether you’re a passionate rider or a curious novice, there are a few options on the outskirts of Bucharest.

A 30 minutes riding lesson starts at RON 50 with the possibility of booking a course of about 10 to 12 lessons. Some of the equestrian clubs in Bucharest require riders to wear special equipment.

Riding clubs in and around Bucharest include:

Arkadia Horse

Ciofliceni village in Snagov

0722 243 227

www.arkadiahorse.ro

 

Clubul de Echitatie Bucuresti

2, Jandarmeriei St.

0726 284 224, 0731 330 090

 

Hipocan Corbeanca

68, DJ101,Corbeanca

0741 100 214

www.hipocan.ro

 

Mogosoaia Equestrian Academy

Mogosoaia, 28 Zamfirei St,

021 211 52 74, www.herghelia-dulugeac.ro

 

Piccadilly riding club

542 Bucharest-Ploiesti Road,

0744 293 942

www.piccadillyhorses.ro/club-echitatie-bucuresti

Robin Hood

DN1 Bucuresti-Ploiesti, Potigrafu

www.robinhood.ro

 

Dance classes

 

For less outdoorsy types, why not get dancing! Tango is a popular choice for Bucharesters and there are quite a few local dancing schools that offer lessons for newbies and professional dancers alike. As well as showing off your newly acquired fleet-footedness at all the Christmas and New Year’s parties, dancing makes a great gift, and is a fun and effective way to get rid of your extra weight and trim up for 2011.

 

Tangotangent

At Tangotangent dancing school, lessons are organized for four levels. Beginners take 24 classes over three months that teach the basics of Argentinean tango. A class costs RON 25 and lasts for 75 minutes.

By the end of the course, students should be able to dance freely and confidently attend milongas (an event where the tango is danced).

 

Estudio Tango Real

Tango practice takes place each Friday at Estudio Tango Real (30 Pache Protopopescu Blvd) and the Dalles Galleries at 20:30. Other tango schools in Bucharest are El Tango and Barrio de Tango.

 

Balet Giuliana Studio

Those who dreamed of becoming ballerinas when they were kids but have passed that age, can indulge their childhood ambition with a less common gift, ballet classes for adults.

Balet Giuliana Studio offers ballet lessons for anyone aged between 4 and 40.

A one-month course with two classes per week costs RON 120.­­­