Nancy Kelly of Kelly’s Home Centre said many of the retail stores on Bay Street are not seeing the type of business today when compared to a few years ago due to a drop in sales from cruise ship passengers.
She made the remarks while on Island 102.9 FM’s Sunday afternoon talk show “Parliament Street,” hosted by Jessica Robertson and Fayne Thompson.
Mrs. Kelly and Frank Butler, president of Milo Butler and Sons, were invited on the popular show to discuss the state of businesses in The Bahamas.
She said Kelly’s, when compared to many of the businesses on Bay Street, was very fortunate because tourists coming off the cruise ships have become very thrifty and are turned off by the prices of merchandise in the country. She said even in an expensive resort destination like St. Thomas, tourists still pay, on average, about $5 less there for the same product in a Nassau store.
She said the hardware store does its best to keep costs down but after paying the 42 per cent duties, staff and utility bills, it was a still a challenge to offer the lowest price possible to the customer. If Kelly’s had to budget carefully over the past twelve months, she could not imagine what some of the smaller stores went through. “Many of the Bay Street merchants I have spoken to are struggling just to make ends meet,” she said.
When asked if she was concerned about the large number of Bahamians who continue to go overseas to shop, she said the practice had been around for generations and would always be with us. She said the most important thing local retailers could do to encourage Bahamians to buy Bahamian would be to reduce prices, which she reiterated was not easy.
There was also talk of how a new taxation system would affect local businesses. On that note, Mrs. Kelly said the country was not prepared for the Free Trade Area of Americas (FTAA) and that a new taxation system could put many businesses, out of business because a tax overhaul would require considerable planning. She said she supported a step-by-step, interim process of a value added tax (VAT) combined with the present system, eventually phasing out customs duties. She explained that the interim period would allow businesses sufficient time to adapt to the new system.
Mrs. Kelly said however, that the changeover from one taxation system to another could still pose other challenges explaining that based on the manner in which many Bahamians conduct business now, they would not be able to compete with international conglomerates such as Wal-Mart, Target or Lowe’s.
On the employment front, the storeowner said businesspeople often encounter difficulty trying to find responsible people to work, especially young men. She said many men who have applied to Kelly’s failed the required drug test for warehouse workers and delivery drivers. She noted that the company does not hire people involved in or using narcotics but has hired those who have reformed.
When asked what could be done to get more young men to seek jobs, she said that the process has to start with education, adding that many young men do not feel good about themselves and coming from fatherless homes does not make it easier for them. She suggested that the government revamp the education system by offering self-esteem classes and permitting longer school hours where children remain in school until 5 pm.
Mrs. Kelly also commented on problems individuals are to likely face in setting up businesses. She encouraged listeners, with the drive, to save monies to start their own business pointing out that the concept of a 9 to 5 job cannot be a goal if an individual wants to excel in his/her own enterprise.
“My husband and I worked long hours, 7 days a week for many, many years before our business was successful,” she said.
Mr. Butler said many local businesses are looking reasonably well when compared to businesses in the rest of the world. He explained that Bahamian businesses tend to experience the ‘trickle-down” effect from successful business in the United States, Canada and Europe.
He said once tax incentives are given to Americans, it results in a spin-off here in The Bahamas.
He also said that when Bahamians buy abroad, they merely mimic people from all over the world. Even though he encouraged residents to buy Bahamian, he said that shopping abroad is a human tendency, as people tend to desire products from a country other than the country of their birth. He indicated that there was a time when many Americans wanted to buy British products and European products. And in many countries in Europe, he added, people want to buy goods from other countries in the union and not their own,
“Many British people want shoes from Italy and clothes from France, and Caribbean people tend to want American products, he said.
Butler also commended both the present and previous governments, for helping to stimulate entrepreneurship through programs offered at the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation.
Both guests predicted that if there were no escalation in world terrorism, 2004 would be a better year for business than 2003.
By Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
