Retailers see opportunity in embracing Ramadan
Many U.S. Muslims glad to see stores like Party City offering them items during their monthlong observation
Children’s Ramadan books were stacked on Asma Malik’s dining table, soon to be wrapped and placed in a gift basket. Colorful lights bought during an afterChristmas sale framed a paper plate scissored into the shape of a crescent moon. A similarly handmade message etched in gold on a wall heralded the coming season. “It’s Ramadan time!!!” As the sacred, monthlong tradition begins this week for the world’s estimated 1 billion Muslims — and upward of 60,000 across the Houston area — a growing number of Americans who practice Islam are decorating their homes by repurposing items purchased at craft stores and Christmas closeouts. It’s how Malik, 30, has decorated her southwest Houston home for years.
But big retailers now see opportunity as well, following the lead of companies like Mattel, which makes a Barbie with a hijab, and Ma-
cy’s, which offers a line of women’s wear designed with Islamic sensibilities in mind.
Earlier this year, the national party supply outlet Party City launched a line of Ramadanspecific decorations for the first time. The chain, with 850 U.S. stores, sold the party goods online and then in select stores, including one in Sugar Land. The company quickly ran out and is working to restock.
“We listened to our customers who were requesting Ramadan decorations and recognized an opportunity to fill this underserved category of … items,” Party City’s president of retail, Ryan Vero, said in an email statement.
Malik, who runs a side business with an Etsy site to sell gift items like baby onesies embroidered with, “My first Ramadan,” gladly bought the new holiday plates and napkins to supplement her crafty home decorations.
‘It’s an honor for us’
“When you see Party City doing this,” she said, “it’s an honor for us.”
Decorations aren’t required to celebrate Ramadan. Growing up in Pakistan, Malik never considered them.
Instead, she focused on the core traditions: fasting from sunup to sundown with relatives and friends to remember those less fortunate; gathering together as a community to give to charity and pray; rejoicing during the hearty meals accompanying Eid.
Farah Zubair, 41, a daughter of a Pakistani father and AfricanAmerican mother, also adheres to these bedrock principles. Yet growing up in the U.S., there was a sense of being left out when so many other holidays, religious and otherwise, were prominently celebrated in public.
Last year, right before winter break, Zubair’s 7-year-old son, Atif Qadir, participated in a school project where he would learn about traditions in other countries. No Muslim-majority country or Muslim traditions were discussed.
“Atif wanted to know why his religion and holidays were not recognized,” Zubair said. “I have no answer. It makes no sense.”
In 2007, the Pew Research Center estimated the U.S. Muslim population to be 2.35 million. That number is estimated to be 3.45 million today, and it is expected to reach 8.1 million by 2050.
Still, 62 percent of American Muslims surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they don’t believe Americans see Islam as part of society’s mainstream.
In light of this, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has for years been reaching out to U.S. retailers to make products tailored to the Muslim community, spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.
There’s also money to be made. The American Muslim Consumer Consortium estimated American Muslim spending power to be about $100 billion in 2013. The nonprofit also offers research insights into areas where retailers can tap into the Muslim market, particularly in food and fashion.
A growing number of brands are responding.
Last year Mattel introduced a Barbie doll in the likeness of U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, complete with the athlete’s hijab. The same year, Nike released its Pro Hijab line of athletic wear internationally.
In February, Macy’s launched its Verona Collection, a modest clothing brand complete with hijab options as part of its minorityand women-owned business development program, The Workshop. In a statement, the company said it’s been receiving a “great response.”
The new Party City line was designed by an internal product innovation team using vendor research. It includes banners, table cloths, paper plates with the image of a crescent moon over a mosque, and colorful napkins with Eid Mubarak (“Blessed Festival”) written in gold for Ramadan’s culminating celebration, Eid al-Fitr.
Public acceptance
As the local community praises Party City’s efforts to offer Ramadan-specific items, especially the Eid-themed paper plates for the celebration’s feast, some have expressed concern over public receptions — and acceptance.
Rodwaan Saleh, an independent consultant for American Muslim groups, worries Party City could face backlash from those harboring anti-Muslim sentiments.
His concern stems from the increasing number of anti-Muslim hate crimes occurring in the U.S.
Anti-Muslim assaults reported to the FBI in 2016 were higher in number than the peak reached in 2001, the year of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a report released last year.
For Zubair, the efforts of Party City and other retailers make a statement against hate crimes and toward greater acceptance.
“It’s a step forward to making Muslims feel welcomed,” she said, “and our kids feel included.”
Zubair couldn’t buy Party City items before they sold out, and instead turned to a family tradition of making decorations with her children.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Zubair and a longtime friend, Shazia Ashraf, guided their children in folding sheets of construction paper, then cutting slits into the fold.
Soon, the dining table was covered with teal, magenta, orange and lime green paper lanterns complete with LED tea lights underneath. All around them were signs expressing joy at the start of Ramadan and even a banner reading, “Don’t Mess with Texas.”
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