Kathmandu October 10:

Shoppers in the Kathmandu Valley are being offered grand prizes and freebies this Dashain, thanks to the intense competition among big shopping malls and departmental stores.

Kathmandu Mall in Sundhara is offering Hyundai car as bumper prize for a lucky customer. Customers in the mall who shop goods worth Rs 500 or above will receive a “lucky card”. Besides the bumper prize, the Mall is offering a motorcycle, a fridge and wall clocks for lucky few.

United World Trade Centre in Tripureshwor is offering an LCD TV as the main prize. President of the Business Association of UWTC, Sanjay Adhikary, said the Centre will organise fashion shows and live concerts to attract customers during the festival.

Some malls are also organising events for different segments of customers. Bluebird Mall has events like magic shows, puppet shows, candy distribution, and face painting to attract kids. It is also offering tarot card reading and free mehendi for ladies.

This scramble to give away big prizes to shoppers seems to be the result of glut of shopping centres in the Valley who are trying to lure in customers. Customers are also awash with cash because of the remittance flowing into the country. This cash is mostly being spent on consumer items and Dashain is the main spending season.

Somi Chitrakar, office secretary of Suraj Arcade, said, “Shoppers, who buy goods worth Rs 999 or above, can win a motorcycle as grand prize at the arcade.”

Panu Poudel, the sales and marketing manager of Saleways Departmental Store, said the mall is offering prizes worth Rs 400,000 to its customers in Kathmandu and Pokhara. The Store is offering a TV as a bumper prize and anyone making a purchase worth Rs 1,000 or above will be eligible for it. Namaste Supermarket is also offering lottery prizes like suitcases and electronic goods every day. However, Bhat Bhateni Departmental Store is not offering any prizes but is giving Dashain discount.