There are still five gift-buying days left before December 25 and merchants throughout the capital are hoping to use every opportunity to boost sales before heading into another year.
For many retailers this means extending store hours and offering deals to atract more shoppers, some of whom are likely to wait until the very last minute to cross off every name on their Christmas lists.
But despite what some merchants admit was a slow start to the traditional holiday shopping period, sales at some establishments are reportedly picking up heading into the homestretch.
“Last year’s sales were quite good, but our sales will definetely be better than last year,” predicted William Carey, senior vice president of the luxury division in Solomon’s Mines on Bay Street.
“I don’t know whether Bahamains love to be caught up in the frenzy, but last year was similar. The first three weeks leading up to Christmas were a little slow. But I can assure you that this week, which started off with a bang this past Saturday – will continue and become a whole lot busier. I think from a merchandising point of view, the traditional gifts like perfumes, inexpensive but good quality crystals, watches, fashion items, jewelry are the hot items.”
According to June Hall, managress of Fendi, some tourists are also using these final few days to do a little Christmas shopping of their own.
“This is certainly when Bahamians start to buy, but more and more tourists are coming into town now,” she explained.
“It’s difficult to say if this year’s sales will surpass last year’s. We started off slowly.”
For the Linen Shop, the story is similar. But according to Assistant Buyer for the store, Shannon Chappell, sales have yet to begin to swell to the point where store owners would like.
“Last week wasn’t as hectic as we would have hoped,” Ms. Chappell said. “Sunday didn’t bring much although many of us were open. Maybe this week when salaries go out, we will do a bit better hopefully with our local trade. People typically wait for the last minute.”
Some merchants said on Monday that they are now facing fierce competition from those businesses selling electronics, like Quality Business Centre (QBC).
QBC officials couldn’t be happier for the business.
“Coming down to this last week in Christmas, sales are good. We’re doing well. We have persons standing outside waiting each morning not just here to look around, but to purchase,” said Ricarra Bowe, a sales representative at QBC.
But while some Bay Street merchants admit that sales have improved over last year, they agree that business could be even better were it not for those Junkanoo bleachers that are lining Bay Street.
“In an ideal situation, we would love not to have the bleachers here, but we also have to realize that Junkanoo is a part of us and so we try to work around this. And even though the bleachers were there, the persons responsible for this kept us abreast when they were going to be removed and quite naturally I was very impressed this year,” Mr. Carey said.
Ms. Hall, the Fendi manageress, added, “Thank goodness they took the bleacshers away for a few days because that really hindered (sales) downtown.”
One stop mega stores like Kelly’s in the Mall at Marathon have for weeks been bracing for the shoppers.
“Things are going great. People have been shopping since October,” Shirley Paul, one of the floor managers, at Kelly told the Bahama Journal on Monday.
“This year, I think it’s even much more than lasat year because of the hurricane. I find persons shopped at home because going to Florida and having to find somewhere to stay, the hassel with customs, getting a car and hotel and all that stuff, it’s better to shop at home.”
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
