Valentine's Day heats up commerce and businesspeople bet on rising sales in the South of Minas With Valentine's Day approaching, celebrated on June 12th, businesses in the South of Minas are betting on increased sales. Retailers report greater demand for gifts and invest in promotions and strategies to attract consumers looking for the ideal souvenir for the date. 📲 Follow the g1 Sul de Minas page on Instagram A survey by Fecomércio MG shows that 43.6% of Minas Gerais retail entrepreneurs believe that sales will be better than those recorded in 2025. Another just over 40% expect stability in results. Valentine's Day heats up commerce and businesspeople bet on rising sales in the South of Minas EPTV/Reproduction For many consumers, choosing a gift is still in progress. Production assistant Aelton de Souza Pereira says he is still deciding how he will surprise his partner. “A bouquet of roses and maybe a little surprise gift, let’s see, I’m still choosing,” he said. His partner, Graciela Casagrande, is betting on a strategy to help her partner make the right choice. “I’ll make a wish list and send it to him, who knows,” he joked. According to Pedro Portugal, economist at IFSul de Minas, although Valentine's Day still lags behind dates such as Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day in terms of sales volume, the celebration has been gaining importance for commerce in recent years. "In recent years, Valentine's Day has stood out as an important date for commerce. (...) This ends up boosting [sales], as there is a question of searching for products, services, restaurants and stores, which are highly sought after during this period of the year", explains the expert. Promotions focus on romanticism and football In Varginha, sportswear retailer Gabriel de Assis Oliveira is betting on the combination of romanticism and passion for football to boost sales. Taking advantage of the movement around the Brazilian team, he prepares special promotions for Valentine's Day. "There's a big movement. The call for the World Cup has come out, the excitement has already started. On Valentine's Day, we're going to launch a little promotion to see if it creates a good buzz, because I think it has everything to do with it," he stated. Gabriel Assis de Oliveira has a sportswear store EPTV/Reproduction In addition to physical storefronts, sales strategies are also increasingly present in the digital environment. Social networks and messaging applications have established themselves as important contact channels between merchants and consumers. Vanessa Aparecida de Oliveira, Gabriel's wife and partner, says that the internet has expanded the reach of the business. This week, she closed sales to customers in other states. "We closed a sale for a boyfriend who wanted to give his girlfriend a baby outfit from the Seleção so they could watch the game together. The product is going to Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul", he reported. The jewelry and accessories sector is also projected to grow. In a jewelry store that has been working with personalized pieces for almost five decades, the expectation is to surpass last year's performance. “We never stop investing in our business, creating new strategies and we expect to grow between 15% and 20%”, said businesswoman Aline Souza The jewelry and accessories sector also projects growth in sales EPTV/Reproduction See the full report: Valentine's Day heats up commerce and retailers hope to surpass sales with the help of the World Cup See more news from the region on g1 Sul de Minas