Flower vendors outside the Manila North Cemetery still grappled with sales even as more visitors flocked to the cemetery on Friday, on the eve of All Saints’ Day.
Several flower stalls were lined up with sellers enticing potential buyers. But even so, several vendors struggle to keep up with sales.
Jocel Leonor, who has been a vendor every Undas for nine years already, has only sold P500 worth of flowers a few hours after their shop opened on Friday.
The 29-year-old vendor shared that they only earned P1,200 on Thursday, which she said was just enough to feed their family, as they have four children.
‘We had better sales last year because [the situation] was not that strict,’ she told the INQUIRER.net in Filipino.
Leonor explained that there were more flower stalls outside the cemetery this year than last year, which contributed to fewer sales for them.
She shared that their flowers are sourced from Dangwa, a fresh flower market in Sampaloc, Manila.
But what will happen if they can’t sell all their flowers?
She answered: ‘We will try to sell them at a much lower price.’
Despite this, Leonor hoped for more buyers on Nov. 1 and 2, when more visitors are expected to troop to the cemetery.
Only a few stalls away from Leonor, Christian Cervantes could be heard saying: ‘Flowers, miss, you may want to buy flowers.’
The 24-year-old vendor said he had been selling flowers every year since he was 17.
He said that their sales for this morning were just enough to feed them breakfast.
When asked if there will be more sales on Friday than on Thursday, he answered: ‘There are more visitors but fewer sales.’
He also pointed out that this year, there are more vendor competitors, many of whom are more visible to buyers than Cervantes’ stall.
‘There is a draw every Undas to determine our locations,’ he said.
With their flowers also sourced from Dangwa, he said that they would offer them to their departed loved ones if they would not be able to sell them all.