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Well the North Pole has nothing on one city in China, you could call it Christmas town, and it supplies the US with a lot more than just cheap seasonal decorations.
But this year the town is a little short on holiday cheer, three guesses why?
In China they are sometimes called the Christmas warms, Hanglian Wang and his wife Jasmine run the factory that tools the tinsel for your Christmas trees. Thousands of miles of it in hand decorated bubbles and bells.
They may even make your Christmas tree, short, tall, it is all exported to American Cammarts and Wal-Marts and a dozen different other retail chains.
But this year Christmas is looking bleak, orders are reining for American retail stores and they’re down at least 50%. Their Christmas tree factory tune in at 2/3 instead of full speed.
The Wangs like to say during this economic downturn, I think you can describe it as our customers having a Christmas cold. In the cold we hope will recover.
But the entire Chinese town of Yiwu is feeling the Christmas pinch. Yiwu is home to the biggest small commodities trade market in the world. It is a mile long, and don't let that smile on the parachuting Santas fool you. Sales on St. Nicks, drumming, keyboard playing, conducting, are all down 30%. And this store represents three factories employing hundreds of workers.
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