-looking to expand to city
With $20,000 and a strong determination to become self-employed, a clothing and accessory designer earned himself the nickname ‘travelling salesman’ – and learnt that success is achievable through focus.
Anarika businessman and designer Desney Weekes along with wife Stacy, a teacher, operate Ramakyah Herbs and Craft in the Mackenzie Municipal Market and Desney encourages that “you ain’t gotta start big,” but small, and keep your focus.
The focus he is talking about is the drive and determination to succeed. “I don’t wait on people to come and buy from me,” says Desney, who added that he always carries samples of the items he sells, ranging from mainly imported herbal products, decorative chains and leather products to promote his business.
Before he summoned the courage to begin retailing vegetarian products, beaded chains and earrings around 2002, with an initial investment of $20,000; the journey towards becoming an entrepreneur took Desney, from his training as a welder/fabricator and from a second job as a minibus operator. Leaving Georgetown, where he lived at the time, Desney would travel to Parika, sometimes to Berbice and to the Essequibo Coast (Suddie, Anna Regina and Charity), to trade his items.
Weekes said that he began travelling because the city was saturated and he figured that
becoming a travelling salesman would mean less competition. As his travelling business paid off, Weekes began to expand from beaded chains and herbal products to leather slippers and designing clothes with wife Stacy sewing the creations. The idea to establish a clothing line came as a result of the public’s interest in Weekes’ way of dressing. Desney related that his clothing is very cultural and reflects mostly an African heritage. The entrepreneurial duo are proud members of the Hebrew Association, and their dress styles are reflective of their beliefs. These unique designs are created by stitching patterns such as flowers using cloth instead of paint or the plain thread. The prices of the cotton dresses and skirts range from $1500 to $4500.
As the designing line and the business began to develop the Weekeses moved from Georgetown to Anarika in the Essequibo River, a one hour – approximately 11 miles drive from Mackenzie, in 2005. Daily, Desney drives or bikes (motorcycle) to Mackenzie to open his business and says that although the sales from Linden is not sufficient to sustain his business, he will continue to maintain a presence in the community, since according to him, Linden is a market with potential. Desney had moved from the Wismar Municipal Market, which he said had less traffic, to the Mackenzie market, where the commerce was better. Suriname is the Weekeses’ largest market. However, since a lot of his customers are in Georgetown, Desney is seeking to open a branch in the city, as well, and to go deeper into designing, using denim material. Currently, the retail of leather slippers and the herbal products has the highest concentration of sales – with his clothing line playing a supporting role; but he believes that as dress styles change his line will gather more support. Not giving up his travelling salesman ways, he still continues to sell his products in Essequibo and Berbice, whenever he visits those regions.
