With the school vacation swiftly coming to an end, many parents have started to get their children ready for school by shopping for uniforms, stationery, footwear and many other items to start off the new term.
During a visit to some shopping areas along East Bank Essequibo and West Demerara on Monday, Stabroek News spoke to some shoppers who said they were waiting to get enough money to begin shopping.
At Bollywood Store at Parika, a mother was shopping footwear for her three school-aged children. She paid $3,000 and $4,000 respectively for each pair.
She had already purchased books and other stationery the previous day and said she spent $15,000 altogether. She spent more on the stationery and had not even purchased text books as yet.
She was shopping around for some more items including uniform, undergarments and socks that she needed. The woman had not received any uniform voucher as yet because she was out of the district.
Other parents told this newspaper that they had waited to collect their vouchers from the schools before going out to shop.
Some store owners said that the items that were selling mostly were the uniforms while others said it was school bags. Another hot item on the market is footwear.
Prices for the uniforms at one store range from $700 to $1,000 while footwear was selling from $2,000 to $5,000.
Shopping was slow, according to store owners, who had school supplies on display for a few weeks now.
Parents, they said would window shop and compare prices but the real shopping actually started at some stores from last Sunday while others said it started by the third week in August.
The owners were hoping that shopping would pick up a few days before school reopens when the mad rush for late shopping begins.
Many of the stores stock all of the school items and parents, especially those who take time off from their jobs, would prefer to “shop everything under one roof.”
There were also a few stores that carried just stationery while a few others stock just footwear and backpacks. One woman complained that she took the entire day to sell one bag worth $700.
While some parents were waiting on last minute shopping for various reasons, Nafeeza Bacchus was one of the early birds.
She finished purchasing her items “since last month” because she “got the money and decided to shop early.” Bacchus only collected the school voucher last Thursday and her daughter used it to purchase some personal items she needed.
The girl dresses in ‘hijab’ [Islamic garb] and so her mother chose to have her uniform custom-made. Bacchus said the uniform was the most expensive as she had to purchase four yards of fabric at $500 per yard and paid $2,000 each to have two sewn.
She purchased socks at $500 for three pairs while she paid $1,500 for a pair of school shoes. Bacchus who also bought two dozen note books for $1,200 said she shopped in Georgetown where she found better bargains.
Anand’s store at Parika that stocks various types of uniform, footwear and other items, was also said to be doing “slow business.”
Stabroek News was told that fabric was the hot items selling in the store as many preferred to have their uniforms custom-made. Footwear, with prices ranging from $1,288 [for shoes] and $1,698 for ‘boots,’ was also a fast selling item.
