With the arrival of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of the school year coinciding this year, the Turkish domestic retail market is enjoying a boom at the end of the third quarter of 2008.

People across the country spent the weekend at shopping malls and supermarkets shopping for Ramadan and for school supplies for children going into the first grade, which started yesterday, one week before older students. Shopping excitement among consumers has already started to make itself felt amongst business owners.

Speaking to Today´s Zaman, Turkish Federation of Food and Drink Industry Associations Chairman Şemsi Kopuz said retail stores have been so busy that producers are having trouble keeping the stores supplied. "Charity groups organizing food packets for the needy and companies giving their employees shopping checks have caused a considerable increase in the demand for food products," he explained, adding that a good yield of certain crops this year has caused the prices of related products, such as sunflower seed oil, to drop. "There have been discounts on food prices because stores have developed sales campaigns specific to Ramadan, leading consumers to buy in large amounts," he adds. According to Kopuz, the heightened level of activity in the retail sector is expected to continue throughout Ramadan and to spike even higher with the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the month, which will in turn deflect some of the effects of the recent recession while entering the last quarter of 2008.

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