THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is not just trendy schoolbags with pictures of Chota Beem, Ben 10, Spiderman and other heroes that the children want to carry to school but also umbrellas with images of their favourite heroes.
For children, umbrellas are just not one of the accessories bought ahead of school reopening but are items to be displayed before their friends.
The market for umbrellas for children changes every season and umbrellas with cartoon characters are the trend of this season, a shop-owner at Statue said.
Apart from the designer umbrellas, the children are after crook- handle umbrellas, which is called ‘kalan koda’ in local parlance.
‘’There is a high demand for crook-handle umbrellas among the children. About 40 to 60 crook-handle umbrellas were sold in a week’s time,’’ said B S Selina, regional manager of the Triveni Super Market at Statue.
Many children and parents prefer branded and designer umbrellas. A salesman at the Triveni Super Market said that the changing fashion trends never affect umbrella sales. He said that the heavy rains that lashed the city in the recent past had resulted in high increase in sales.
Mohammed Salman, owner of Bangalore Discount Sales, said that it was always a seasonal sale for umbrellas that may go up for about two months depending on the extent of the monsoon showers. Customers usually opt for branded ones as one is assured of quality, he said.
The price range for umbrellas remains almost the same in all the shops. A children’s umbrella is priced in the range of Rs 250 to Rs 500.