Shoppers at Woolworth looking through the wide selection of flowers.
Although the coronavirus has put a damper on sales and commercial activity so far this year, some of this island’s oldest retailers on Broad Street are optimistic about the festive period.
In fact, with days to go before Christmas, they are grateful to have finally received most if not all of their merchandise; keeping their stores well stocked as Barbadians can be seen around the City shopping and not letting the pandemic dampen their Christmas spirit.
“Our customers say they are headed to church on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve and they want that perfect outfit,” said Barbara Lightbourne, owner of Rainbow Boutique which this year celebrated 40 years on Broad Street specialising in women’s apparel.
However, Mrs. Lightbourne expressed to The Barbados Advocate her disappointment not being able to get stock in on time due to the pandemic, and as a result lost some sales from customers who always try to avoid the Christmas rush by shopping early.
“Normally Christmas stock would be on our racks and displayed no later than December 1. However, COVID-19 has really toppled businesses not only in Barbados, but in the United States as well, as suppliers have moved out of their storefronts and are only using warehouse spaces, or have unfortunately gone out of business. And then there is the challenge of the wait to receive the shipments.
“I know this season isn’t going to be business as usual, but I am grateful that we are still seeing some traffic coming into Norman Centre with persons eager to see our newest dresses and accessories,” she said.
Marcia Martindale has a similar take. The owner of Martindale’s believes there is definite cause for optimism this Christmas season.
With a wide selection of Lingerie, Clothing and Accessories in store at City Centre Mall, Ms. Martindale who has been in business for the past 30 years said that she is thankful to have received her merchandise on time despite the pandemic.
“I am thankful – it could be worst. I am pleased so far,” she expressed. “You can’t expect the same sales or the same amount of things you would have had before, so you have to work with what you have.”
Owner of The Royal Shop, Mr. Hiranand Thani, was pleased to report that the watch and jewellery retail business is stocked with the world’s most popular luxury and fashion brands all at amazing duty-free prices.
However, Mr. Thani, who has been in business for over 40 years admitted to The Barbados Advocate that preparing for this season was a little challenging in terms of getting merchandise into the island on time.
“Getting merchandise in from overseas was a problem – flights for freighting had issues. So, there were some obstacles, but above the obstacles – we are happy, we are seeing many of our locals and are happy to be here to help them with their gift giving at this very special time. Also, pleasing is that we are seeing some traffic from visitors which is good for the country. We know it is not going to be the same, but we are going to be happy at the end of the year,” he expressed.
As usual, customers to the Royal Shop can indulge in a wide selection of silver and gold earrings, pearl earrings and sets. Mr. Thani also revealed that Movado’s latest designs are now available at Royal Shop’s flagship store in Bridgetown, along with what’s new in Citizen and Casio, and several other popular brands.
“One of the big items this year, as with previous years, has been Movado – our Movado shipment is huge. There are some very new styles which I believe some people may not have as yet, and we have them. So, to our Movado customers please come on down, see what we have, it’s a huge selection for this season.”
Over the next few days Woolworth’s Managing Director, Mr. Martin Bryan, is expecting the store to get busier. He is assuring the public that even during this COVID-19 period, Woolworth which boasts 65 years, continues to be a leading department store in Barbados providing a wide variety of merchandise at competitive prices. He also noted difficulty buying merchandise, but they crossed that hurdle.
“We are expecting certainly from the weekend onwards will be busier than it is now and we are ready. We are fully stocked and fully staffed. Yes, we had to hire additional staff especially to man the two doors to carry out temperature checks, sanitising from time of opening until closing. But, we usually have additional staff on this time of year because of additional demand in the various departments.”
Persons who are still sprucing up their homes could be seen in store selecting flowers, housewares, curtains, lights and so on. Mr. Bryan however pointed out that from this week gifts items will be in demand – toys and candle sets, perfumes sets, etc.
For an authentic, tasty Bajan meal, Mustor’s Bar and Restaurant on McGregor Street has been the choice of locals and visitors alike for several decades. As usual, Mustor’s offers breakfast and lunch menus. Owner Mr. Ian Mustor has welcomed the increase traffic to the restaurant in recent days as shoppers come into the city.
However, he also shared with The Barbados Advocate, “What tends to hurt me a little bit is the Sunday shopping because that takes away from people coming into town during the week. And we don’t open on Sundays because we have found that on that day people mostly come into town in the afternoon after having their own Sunday meal.”
All in all, The City of Bridgetown is abuzz with activity and Christmas cheer is definitely in the air. The Bajan Christmas spirit is definitely alive and well.
(TL)