Bunny’s golden patch

Press, 10 April 1979, Page 1

Bunny’s golden patch

The Easter Bunny would turn in his burrow if he could see the prices his progeny are fetching in Christchurch these days. Resplendent in colourful wrapping — and much larger than life at 50cm in height and 2kg in weight — the up-to-the-minute Easter rabbit has a price tag of $25. “But there is no problem in selling them. Our three went in no time,” said one city retailer yesterday.

In spite of the economy, Christchurch confectionery shops report a brisker trade than last year. One group has even had to put an Easter-egg-maker on overtime rates to meet the demand. “We have sold 3500 eggs so far in three shops, and at the rate they are going we could run out before the New Brighton shopping day,” said the proprietor of Mary Gray Confections (Miss B. Thornton). Prices of Easter confectionery have risen only slightly since last year, but the range has widened. “We are getting more Continental-style stuff, such as the big rabbit, and trays of eggs, and they are selling well,” said one retailer.

Top of the egg range, at $33 each, is the “jumbo,” a football-sized creation full of trinkets and sweets, and “easily enough for a family,” according to one retailer.

Further down the range, Mary Gray Confections sells boxes of eggs from $2.15 to $10.95, and single eggs from 72c to $15.30 each.

For the budget-minded, packets of seven unwrapped eggs sell in supermarkets for 89c; five wrapped eggs sell for $1.15, and 10 smaller wrapped ones cost $1.59.