By Emma Tao
Tomorrow is Lunar New Year… are you ready? New Year’s is a very big deal to many Asian cultures, think of it as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas combined. People usually celebrate by gathering among family members they haven’t seen in ages, eating a large and expensive meal, and handing out pocket money as well as gifts.
This year, I’ve noticed that many companies are having promotions and special events to help celebrate the Lunar New Year. In the past, most of the sales and unique offers stop after the beginning of January (end of the typical holiday season) but many stores have been incorporating new merchandise in February in hopes of attracting Asian and Asian American consumers. Lunar New Year is one of the biggest and most widely celebrated events out there. It is great that many major companies are getting involved and hopefully many more will in the future!
Check them out, from Godiva to Converse and more, and let us know what other companies are making interesting Lunar New Year products.
Let’s start off with the company that most New Yorkers (like myself) obsess over: STARBUCKS
Starbucks has made new snacks such as Wafer Rolls, Gula Melaka Pistachio, and Almond Caramel cookies as well as a new dark roast of coffee to enjoy at stores in tribute to the Year of the Sheep.
They are also selling new card designs, mugs, and cute plushee sheep as potential gifts.
Next is the shoe brand that I’ve worn since I could walk in: CONVERSE
I have to say I’m pretty impressed with Converse. They designed 3 different shoes with great concepts that can actually easily mix into the Asian fashion scene very well (*applause)
The first style is a suede Chuck Taylor with a suede upper, back zip, and 2 leather heel straps. There’s a white Sherpa lining throughout the shoe (hence Year of Sheep) and comes in 2 colors, black and chestnut.
The second style (my favorite) is also a suede Chuck Taylor and white Sherpa lining throughout; but it comes with an internal 2.44 inch wedge (#shortgirlsunite) and a big circular converse logo on the outside of the shoes. This comes in black and white.
The third style is the classic leather hi-top. The tongue of shoe has Asian patterns sewn in and the toecap and heel are metallic gold. This comes in black and a pattern.
After that is the Swedish watch brand with the most creative designs ever: SWATCH
The special watch that Swatch created is called The Goat’s Keeper. It’s a classic colorful that all children would want to get their hands on. The watch is pretty with blue and white background and a dainty sparkly goat’s head in the centerpiece. The packaging is also special with the zigzag pink and green patterns on the sides.
Finally, the most beautifully sweet scented store in the mall: GODIVA
Godiva’s chocolatier’s have created 3 special pieces of chocolate for the special Lunar New Year Gift Box. The 20 piece box come with the new flavors of Chrysanthemum and Ginger, Jasmine and Angelica Root, and Gui Flower and Ginseng as well as several Classic Belgian Chocolates. The flavors are creative and it attracts the palates of many people ranging from traditional grandparents to sugar high kid.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A Taiwanese and Cantonese girl breathing life in NYC. Balancing engineering, cooking, blogging, photography, and too much internet time.
