Primo’s Sewing Establishment has had a successful year and is looking to expand its operations as it reignites the local garment manufacturing industry.
George Abrams’ Primo’s Sewing Establishment opened its doors last May at Lot 23 Company Road, Buxton and has so far received an overwhelming response to its products, not only from the community but also from the wider population. “The community support has been good and by extension generally. We are getting calls and people visiting from all over,” Production Manager, Garfield Amos told Stabroek News in a recent interview.
According to Amos, the past year has been quite hectic given the great demand they have had for the products. “The thing is we have moved immensely and we are at the stage where we have to expand… The orders and demands are much greater. If we want to maximize we have to expand. I have a proposal pending for the government and that is in promoting or reigniting the garment industry because that is in demand. There is a ready market,” Amos said.
“We have been asked to be a part of a village day at New Amsterdam next month… that in itself is another challenge because we have to prepare stuff for that event. Had we expanded already it would have given us more scope. That would have been very good and impacting had we expanded already we could have taken stuff up there so persons could have had… a look as to what we are producing,” he stated.
To date, the production manager said, they have done a large amount of work mainly for security companies. “We have overhauled the entire uniforms at Professional Guard Services, the entire staff and that in itself was a great challenge. Other security companies would have come on board and the demands to my mind dictate that we expand,” he stated.
At present, Amos said, the establishment is about to embark on a training programme, which is scheduled to get underway next month and will involve the training of 15 to 20 persons. “The government right now is looking at our proposal. They asked us for a proposal because they are going to undertake that training because it is going to entail after work.” The training he noted will not only be for persons from within the community.
He added that apart from those persons who want to remain at the establishment, the training will also be done for those persons who would want to go out on their own.
In an interview last year, Amos had told Stabroek News that the establishment had a goal of employing a total of 30 women in the near future. While there are only 11 employed thus far, he said that this was mainly due to the lack of machines. “The number has not increased only because it entails more machines. Right now we are in the process of importing machines and we are hoping to get them by the time that training programme has come to an end,” he stated.
As regards some of the products made at the establishment, he stated that they range from scrubs to chambray shirts to pants. Last year, he had told this newspaper that in relation to the dress shirts there is no place in Guyana making them. “Basically they are all imported into Guyana so this is the first of its kind,” he had said. The prices, he said, range from $2,300 to $3,200 for the chambray shirts, while the scrubs are priced at $2,000.
“The orders that we get for pants is basically from the security companies. Other than that persons are interested in shirts. That is mainly because you would wear two pants for the entire week but you wear a shirt every day. The demand is for tops and shirts. We haven’t started dresses as yet. We did a few pieces but we couldn’t really put them out because we know for sure the demand [would increase],” he said.
Last year he had also said that he is of the belief that the establishment is a good venture that others can follow and which would generate a great deal of employment. “…Look at Bangladesh, a developing nation, a lot of their foreign exchange is from garment and textile and they are employing a lot of people right now,” he had stated.
And while they have not exported any of the products as yet, he remained optimistic that this will be done in the future. “We are not into that as yet. It is out of our reach only because of the demands here. It is not easy for us to supply in our local market, but it is not beyond us. But not in the near future, I do not foresee it,” he stated.
“Right now we are pressed for our own pieces. We did samples and on a daily basis persons are asking, persons are calling to find out what we have. Whenever we advertise what we have there is a pressing need because people are impressed with our quality and this is something we want to maintain regardless of the amount of orders we have.”
To this end, he said that the establishment will seek to maintain its quality and high standards. “We are not at anytime looking to forego our quality, so our main aim is to maintain that quality and I think that is what sets us apart,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Amos also expressed thanks to the government which he said was helpful in giving concessions to the establishment. “They gave us the manufacturer’s status so we have a bit of concession when it comes to importing. We are thankful and we are still looking forward for whatever support we can garner from the administration. It is never too much,” the production manager added.
Anyone wishing to place orders can contact Amos on telephone numbers 661-6076 or 689-5743
