With the year now almost two weeks old downtown traders are reflecting on the fortunes of the season just past.
Christmas is by far the most universally celebrated holiday. More than that, the season extends itself over two weeks and is attended by considerable investment in entertainment and revelry. Christmas customarily unleashes a ferocious spending spirit.
The conventional retail traders are serious about Christmas. They are forever hopeful that each Christmas will bring a significant windfall. This year, the price of gold and the construction boom across the city might have created a false sense of affluence, so that from as early as September the containers had begun to arrive—mostly from the United States—laden with an assortment of household appliances, curtains, hardware and carpeting, all strong seasonal sellers. There are those merchants too who focus on clothing, fabric, accessories and shoes. Every year they aim for the Christmas ‘killing’.
The upshot of it was that there was no ‘killing’ to be made. There may have been a few downtown retailers who did well during the season. On the whole, however, the word on the street—from established traders to smaller vendors—was that trading was sluggish compared with the previous Christmas.
Giftland Officemax, the biggest department store in the city had begun to create ‘the Christmas Spirit’ since November. Ian Ramdeo, the store’s Chief Executive Officer told Stabroek Business that the conventional department store can no longer rely on the patronage it used to have. He believes that there are “other options”, like internet shopping. Ramdeo said the takings that used to accrue to stores must now be shared with the surfeit of entertainment options that have mushroomed in the city. While he said Giftland’s volume of Christmas sales was no worse than last year’s, he conceded that the returns came on the back of an aggressive and costly marketing campaign.
By contrast, Ghanesh Ramroop-Narine, the proprietor of Ramroop’s Furniture Store in Lombard street told Stabroek Business that there was no doubt that his own sales were “down” this year. These days, local family establishments like Ramroop’s, face increasing competition from contemporary traders like Courts.
Veteran Water Street businessman Pradeep Samtani told Stabroek Business that his store Bhojwani’s at least matched its 2012 seasonal takings at the end of last year, though he opined that the inclement weather might have kept many shoppers away.
Hemraj Kissoon, the proprietor of AH&L Kissoon agreed that the weather might have had much to do with the fall in the volume of sales. While he too said he had anticipated “better sales” he told Stabroek Business that the volume of the company’s sales was “reasonable” without matching the returns of the previous year.
Longstanding Regent Street trader Ramdat Sookraj reported a highly satisfying trading season. He has, for years, specialised in fabrics and vinolay and this year, as in previous years, business was good
It was the smaller vendors, mostly, who were left to rue the consequences of significant investment in anticipation of aggressive consumption. Odessa Frank, who sells clothing in the downtown Vendors Arcade, said that this year the arcade did not benefit from the strong support which it usually receives from overseas-based Guyanese returning home to celebrate Christmas.
Mark Sanford, another longstanding Vendors Arcade clothing vendor concurred. He opined that the decline in patronage at the arcade was almost certainly a function of the increased presence of Chinese traders in the city this year. Sanford
pointed to the sustained increase in the number of Chinese merchants coupled with what he described as the advantageous trading conditions afforded them by the authorities.
When Stabroek Business had visited downtown during the days preceding Christmas the response of local consumers to the surfeit of cheaper Chinese imports was obvious. Chinese businesses on Robb and Regent streets were doing brisk trading in artificial flowers, curtains, floor mats, rugs, toys, tablecloths, small items of furniture and clothing. Those traders who had opted for simply buying and re-selling the Chinese products also appeared to be doing well.
When Stabroek Business visited her stall earlier this week Elgina David was eyeing the stock of clothing she had imported from the United States prior to the start of the holidays. Her holiday dresses including Old Year’s Night gowns were mostly unsold and she was contemplating whether or not she would recover her investment. When asked what made the 2013 holiday period different to previous years, she simply said, “the long lines of people in the Chinese stores.”
Trading, however, is not for the faint-hearted. And almost two weeks into the new year, business owners appear to be getting over the disappointment of last Christmas. They were already looking to the prospects for 2014.
