Saleh Fareed Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — With the new academic year just around the corner, parents are already complaining about an increase in the prices of stationery items such as bags, pens, notebooks and other school supplies compared to last year. Bookstores and stationery shops across the Kingdom are all stocked up on school supplies in anticipation of the big shopping season at the beginning of next week, when parents and students are expected to crowd the stores to buy materials for the new school year. Saeed Nasir, a father of three, told Saudi Gazette as he was shopping for new bags for his children in Jeddah: “I have noticed some increase in the prices of items, especially cartoon character schoolbags. “The problem is that my children insist on such bags and I cannot refuse their request because they want to look good in front of their schoolmates.” Another father, Zaki Al-Maghrabi, said school stationery is very important for every student. “But with the increase in prices this year, I believe parents should buy only the necessary items and this is what I am doing since I have four children,” he said. He urged officials at the Ministry of Commerce to monitor the prices of school supplies and try to keep prices unified. Al-Maghrabi said: “Bags alone cost me around SR750, so when it comes to stationery I prefer only buying the important ones. “I certainly checked out prices at various places to get the best price and I noticed the prices are up this year by 15 to 30 percent or more.” As parents gear up for the start of the school year next week, stationery retailers are expecting thousands of fathers and mothers through their doors this coming week. Mohammed Ba Marouf, sales manager for Hasnoun Stationery, a popular shop for school supplies in Jeddah's Rawdah district, stated that they have enough stationery items such as pens, notepads and other products as well as textbooks to meet the expected demand from students looking to buy things before schools officially open next week. He agreed that prices have gone up a little bit and noted they may vary according to brand. He said: “Some stores may be carrying more expensive brands than last year, but for us we offer affordable prices.” Nazir Abdulrahman, a salesman at Gharnatah Stationery, added they have increased their stocks of items such as notebooks, pens and other school items compared to last year, as they are anticipating a larger number of students shopping for supplies than usual. He said: “We are fully prepared in the event of an influx of customers coming in to buy last minute school supplies. “We have no problems with the customers as we made sure that we have enough supplies in stock.” According to the latest figures, total sales for back-to-school supplies are expected to exceed SR90 million.
