Guyexpo ended Wednesday with a bit of a whimper as many booths were not open. But many visitors, despite the weekend chaos, said they were impressed by the exhibits.
Stabroek Business spoke to the exhibitors to see what kind of show they had.
Sumintra Bacchus, of S. Bacchus Unique Arts and Craft, at Lot D 55 North Sophia, says her GuyExpo experience was very successful. This local small business sells handmade magnetic stickers made from starch and paste. The starch and paste is then molded into shapes of seafood, vegetables and fruits. In addition, Bacchus makes handicraft, wooden key rings and sells scenes of Guyana painted on teacups.
Bacchus spent $160,000 to prepare her exhibit for GuyExpo and says that she had already made a profit as of Tuesday. Some seven or eight overseas visitors ordered some of the stickers and invited her to manufacture in their country.
She says that her exhibit started off with 6000 pieces and this amount lasted for Friday and Saturday. But from Sunday, new items had to be made daily to meet the demand. Unlike some exhibitors in the Main Auditorium who noted that the music from the entertainment systems affected them, Bacchus noted that she was not affected.
But Elizabeth DeSouza, Bacchus's daughter and assistant noted that "sometimes the noise is very annoying."
For Bacchus, GuyExpo could be held every year. This is the business's second exposition but the first that gave her so much exposure.
Somat Alli, CEO of Fibre Tech, at Triumph Village, East Coast Demerara, which produces bath tubs, jacuzzis and a range of kitchen furnishings, said GuyExpo did not live up to his expectations.
Alli noted that the public was very pleased with their products but Guyexpo was more about entertainment. For those who wanted to buy the place was too crowded.
"The foreigners who I met outside said it was not good," because the large crowd prevented them from entering. In terms of foreign visitors to the booth, he noted that with the exception of a few overseas-based Guyanese, there were very few.
He was expecting more home builders and contractors since these were the persons who would have given him orders.
"The only night that was good for us was last night (Monday night)," Alli noted, where more of the buying public had a chance to view his exhibit.
"What we had here was a carnival. I did 22 international exhibitions and have not seen so [much] partying... the noise level was too much."
He noted that the music coming from the booths in his vicinity prevented him from talking with potential buyers.
"We would like exhibitions like this, but not the party that goes with it."
He spent over $1M on the event and this includes the cost of over 12,000 brochures and 10,000 business cards. He felt that manufacturers should have been separate and a day should be set aside for the buying public.
"As a promoter and an exhibitor...I would be looking to the people who are purchasing rather than the people who are partying."
The members of Kamouni Women's Handicraft and Development Association, at Santa Aratack Mission in Region Three say after comparing their costs to attend the exposition they had reasonable returns as of Saturday night.
Lucile Barker, president of the association, which started in the late 80s with 18 persons and now has 50 including three men, says this is their second exposition.
Within the community the craft shop enjoys sales from visitors to Timberhead and Arrowpoint resorts. Items such as small canoes made from purpleheart, place mats and baskets made from tibisiri are retailed from as little as $200 to $8000.
Monica Higgins, of Monica's Fabric Designs at Linden, brought to GuyExpo an average of 125 pieces of hand painted and embroidered work, spending $45,000 to make the trip. Up to Tuesday night she had only made an estimated $10,000 to $15,000.
Nevertheless, Higgins says she attended GuyExpo more for the exposure since her business is already very successful in Linden. She says it was successful in that respect even if the costs outweighed on site sales.
"A lot of people... ask me if I am giving courses... but sorry that is till in Linden," she noted, and felt that her sales/orders could have been better, if she was based in Georgetown.
With the response from the show, Higgins now plans to collaborate with a relative who lives in the city where customers can pick up and make orders. Higgins whose booth was in the Annex, noted that the lighting was poor, and as the crowd increased the area became too hot. Although she said the area was not too crowded.
Ram Prashad, chief executive officer of Prestige Manufacturing, at La Grange, noted that his products have received tremendous support at GuyExpo. Prashad was promoting agricultural-based product such as seasonings, mango anchar and sour dip. Prestige's bottled ground thyme was commended by President Bharrat Jagdeo during his visit to the booth, he says.
Kirk Michael, of Stowell Ceramic at New Hope, East Bank, which makes clay sculptures, painted and beaded clay necklaces, clay table stands, goblets and clay plant pots, says financially they had a reasonable show.
They were located towards the rear of the International Pavilion.
They spent $35,000 to participate in what was their fourth show and say they comfortably covered that amount but Michael feels that greater income was possible if the Pavilion was more visible. "People [were] not aware that this is part of the GuyExpo," he says, since the front part of the Pavilion, where visitors first come, was not painted. Also the golden arch where visitors entered, extended beyond the pavilion.
"It was good for us but it could have been better. A majority of the people that we spoke with, did not know this was part of the exhibit. We have had very good support from local persons," but Michael stated that they had no foreign sales.
There were also serious problems with ventilation even though air conditioning systems were in place.
Precision Packaging (Guy)Inc., of Lacytown which opened last September, exhibited its packaging services. Precision makes packaging sacks and bags for various local companies. The companies include three rice companies, two pasta companies and six bakeries. The company also provides packaging for Banks DIH snack products and for Sterling Products, Didco and Bounty Farm as well as four seafood companies.
They also manufacture straw bags for Country Pride and coin bags for the Bank of Guyana. Due to the significant growth of business in Guyana over the past 10 years, Precision Packaging Inc., based in Barbados, established the local firm, according to company information.
Savitri Sukhai, chief executive officer of Precision Packaging Guyana says the response was good at GuyExpo and as a result there is lots of potential. This is the local company's first major promotion.
International Exhibitors
The Barbados-based, SCL Systems Consulting, that has nine to ten private and public clients in Guyana noted that the response they received from the exhibit was good.
Officials of that company noted that they were overwhelmed with the response that they received.
The company has over 23 years of providing consultant services in the Caribbean and Latin America, in information technology, management, consulting and marketing research.
On Saturday night at GuyExpo 2K4 officials manning the Canadian-based Integrated Group Company booth were also happy with the interest shown in their exhibit in the International Pavilion.
The Integrated Group is made up of Amati Millwork Inc., which specialises in custom wood fabrication for commercial, retail, and hospitality markets; Digital Moon Music + Video Inc. which specialises in DVD authoring and editing; and ID Merchandising Group which is a design driven, display manufacturing company.
At a Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) seminar last Friday, one official from Integrated Group explained that the company would be looking at various investment options in Guyana. The official noted that the group would be making another visit to Guyana in a matter of weeks.