Paralympic Souvenirs Ready to Fill Shelves in Beijing

The big changeover will represent a new setting and most likely new sales figures. Wang Jian, the General Manager of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Flagship Store was excited to see the many customers who had already been visiting the store from China and abroad. He is now anticipating a new crowd due the upcoming Paralympic Games.

“About 70 percent of goods on sale in September will celebrate the Paralympic Games,” he said.

Jian continued, saying that the Paralympic-licensed products will be hitting more than ten categories, including clothing, toys, pens and mugs. The sales of these products will remain on the shelves in Beijing for future visitors until March of next year.

The flagship store, located in Gongmei Mansion on Wangfujing Street, has already been serving an average of 60,000 customers a day, with 20% of them being foreigners. The anticipation of the likely historical sales figures for Paralympic products is high and exciting for store owners.

One of the main souvenirs for the Paralympic Games this year will be the different interpretations of the official Mascot, Lele. The full name is actually Fu Niu Lele and was chosen in order to be the ambassador of friendship. The word ‘Lele’ actually means “happiness”, and the Mascot’s design blends the modelling styles of Chinese folk engraved prints, with colours rooted in traditional Chinese New Year drawings and toys.

More expensive general Games souvenirs, like the gold and silver miniatures of the Bird’s Nest are also likely to sell well during the Paralympic Games.

For more information about the Paralympic Games, please visit www.paralympic.org.