People visit stalls at All About Lifestyles Exhibition on Saturday. The other picture is from the German Shepherd Landesgruppen Show. — White Star
ISLAMABAD: Families thronged to the All About Lifestyles Exhibition at the Jinnah Convention Centre on Saturday, with the pleasant weather and end-of-year cheer turning the exhibition and its associated activities into a wonderful outing for young and old alike.
The typical stalls of handicrafts and clothing, food products and electronics and appliances were set in the exhibition tent. Many stalls had set up games and lucky draws to attract potential customers, while others were handing out candy to children and providing product tastings.
Murree Brewery was present with a large variety of juices, squashes and soft drinks. Amir Shahzad from the stall said: “We have a stall in the expo every year. Last year it was drizzling and it was much colder than it is now so there are a lot more people this year.”
One of the most frequented food stalls was the Adams stall, which has apparently participated in all the Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad Lifestyles Exhibitions for the past five years.
Sohaib Ahmed Arshad boasted: “If you have seen the rest of the exhibition then you would see the largest crowd is at our stall. This is because we have giveaways, free tastings and discounts on our products. People can try our lassi, yoghurt, raita, etc, and we will be serving fresh pizzas shortly, made using our own cheeses.”
At the Islamic Design House stall, Ahmed Sufiyan explained that they had thus far been selling their products online, and had built a loyal customer base “who come back to us”.
“We will open an outlet soon, but until we do we thought this was a good opportunity for us to make a public appearance. People can check out our products. This is what our customers here have been appreciating; that they can examine the quality of the product before purchasing it.”
There were many electronics and appliances stalls set up in the exhibition – seemingly more so than in past years – and fewer food and clothing stalls. At the Gree/Ecostar stall the customer service representatives were referring interested customers to their display centre instead of selling products at the exhibition.
Farkhanda Khan said: “We’ve been looking at the automatic washing machines and televisions at the various stalls, like Panasonic. My son has bought some batteries and colours, which are the things of interest to him – my father is carrying them. My father actually brings us every year. I had a wedding to attend but he had been planning to bring us here for the past week; he loves it.”