Buyers and sellers may be doing their best to put a brave face on it, but the available evidence would appear to suggest that the tidal wave of seasonal consumerism expected at this time of year is being put on hold by the November 28 general elections, now just over a week away.
Earlier this week both large merchants and small vendors alike were fretful about “the slow start” to the Christmas season, the result, they say, of a measure of apprehension over the likelihood of a period of post-elections tension.
It has become customary for Stabroek Business to take the commercial pulse of the business community from around mid-November, each year. Last year this time the seasonal trading was