Slow sales as Christmas nears
Kaieteur News
December 12, 2004
With exactly two weeks to Christmas day, the Garden City has begun to take on the ambiance of festivity.
The masqueraders and street carolers are out lending of their musical talent and prowess to passersby to help them get in the Christmas spirit.
Old St. Nick is prominently displayed in almost every store door, either in his real form or a miniature version.
It's also toys, toys and more toys in every shop window to tempt the little ones into imploring their parents to make purchases.
Ginger, sorrel, walnuts, ham and fruits for the black cake are out.
As usual, the vendors have pulled all the stops out in ensuring that all the items synonymous with making the festive season enjoyable, are on sale.
However, with less than two weeks to go before Christmas, some storeowners are expressing disappointment with the pace of sales.
On a tour of the city yesterday, Regent Street, which is usually bustling with activity at around this time of year, was strangely barren of activity.
One Regent Street storeowner noted that people were only window-shopping.
“A lot of persons are walking in and out the store and checking out the items all day. But few are actually purchasing anything.”
He noted that this is probably because the ‘last minute rush' is part of the excitement of Xmas shopping for Guyanese.
Floor Manager of National Hardware on Water Street, Fizul Sattaur also had a similar view.
“I am surprised at the slow pace with which people are shopping this year, I know that Guyanese like to wait till the last minute, but this is actually the last minute, only a few days to go and not much activity in here. Time like this last year, you couldn't even walk in the store, because of the crowd.”
However, most of the customers that Kaieteur News spoke with explained that their slow pace in making purchases has nothing to do with waiting to be part of the last minute rush, and everything to do with the availability of funds.
Shenella Kyte, a mother of three, said that she was pricing items yesterday so that by the time her overseas-based relatives send money next week, she would know exactly how to spend it.
Another mother, a public servant, who preferred to remain anonymous said that she was awaiting her December paycheck and the five percent increase awarded to civil servants to do her shopping.
“People already spend last month pay and buy what little it could have bought for Christmas. We are now waiting for the next payday next week to buy the rest.”
The general consensus of customers is that this year, household appliances are being sold at reasonable prices.
They made special mention of the influx of ready-made curtains, which seem to invade the market this year at affordable prices, thus putting an end to the dilemma of having curtains sewn.
“This year, there are beautiful curtains in almost every store, I don't know where deh get them from, but you could get really pretty curtains for $1,500. I glad `cause I don't able with the buying cloth and carrying it to seamstress thing. That is nuff stress,” one housewife noted.
New settees also seem to be the order of the day this year. Last week, every chair set in Singer's Showroom had been sold out.
Marketing Manager, Eric Whaul, however assured that the company has a warehouse with more than enough to satisfy customers' needs.
However, while there may be a lag in purchases of Christmas items, boutiques and shoe stores saw a rush of customers yesterday shopping for clothes for office Christmas parties.
Bhena's Footwear was a hive of activity as customers clamored for the latest fashions of shoes.
The clothing section of Sachi's and Kei-Shar's also attracted large crowds.