Vendors hope for revival on Queen's Park Savannah strip

Just because food businesses got a lifeline in the form of the lifting of some restrictions to combat covid19, it doesn’t mean they are out of the woods yet.

In fact, small businesses like those which operate on the food strip at the Frederick Street entrance of the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain are still struggling.

The effect of not being able to run their businesses was so great on some that they have not yet been able to return to the Savannah.

But even as business owners who have been at the Savannah for more than a decade complain of slow traffic and limited time to earn revenue, new hopefuls continue to see the food strip as a place where they can start their own business.

Slow sales at the Savannah

Sheldon Marcano, owner of Tam Faqat Grill, recalled his first day at the food strip at the Savannah 13 years ago as a huge success.

He launched his grilled-food business after advertising the opening for weeks using flyers and word of mouth.

“It was a Friday,” he recalled, “There wasn’t enough goods to provide for the customers that day.”

That opening bore a stark difference to the reopening after covid19 restrictions were lifted on July 19. Describing the first Friday as “worse than a bad Monday,” Marcano said only a few customers patronised his business that day.

Speaking to Business Day last Friday, Marcano added that sales that day had not yet picked up either. It was about 6 pm, and he had only seen three customers since opening at 2 pm.

Others who sell on the food strip, some 32 in total, had the same experience.

One of the reasons for the low returns over the past few weeks is that the curfew, which begins at 9 pm, greatly limits the time they have to sell.

“You have to come here from about midday to start setting up and preparing all the goods. By about 4 pm or after 4 pm people would start trickling in. From there you have two and a half to three hours tops to make money.

“There isn’t much you can do because everyone here knows that the Savannah is about the nightlife. With covid19, after seven everyone is looking to go inside, not come out,” Marcano said.

Manager of the Vendors Association, punch and smoothie vendor Michael Williams, who sells as Doctor Fresh, explained that on a normal day pre-pandemic, vendors at the Savannah would begin to set up at about 2 pm, then business would pick up between 5 pm and 6 pm. At around 7 pm there will be a rush of people, then closer to 9 pm the activity would die down.

But things have not been normal for about two years, even more so with vendors having to work around the restrictions.

“You have to give yourself an hour and a half to pack up, and sometimes even more. So you basically have two and a half hours of business instead of seven or eight hours. You still have a curfew, so you still have to get home at a certain hour.”

Williams said vendors now have to manage their expectations.

“Some people came out with the mentality that they can operate like things are normal, and things are not normal. This pandemic and lockdown has changed the game in everything. You have to change your mindset along with it.

"So to me, if my mindset was getting ten customers, I will now have to cater for three.”

New businesses as well had to strategise in order to make their investment count.

"It is like playing Russian roulette with your money, because you are studying to put forward the money but you don’t know if you will make it back, because people aren’t working, and things are slow," said Absalom Cornell, co-owner of BA Food Delights, a food cart that sells Venezuelan and Trini cuisine.

Cornell and his business partner Beatriz Gonzalez had been in the food business for about two years and were originally based across the street from Daybreak Bar, on Morne Coco Road, in Petit Valley. Cornell went to the Savannah because it was one of the more popular spots for vendors in the Port of Spain area.

“Here is where it is, here is where there is high traffic. Petit Valley has its traffic as well, but it is slower than here.”

They returned to the Savannah on the first Monday that food businesses were opened for pick up and take-away service only. He said business was slow that day, but as the week progressed it picked up. They said they were worried that another spike in cases may occur and prompt another closure especially after news of confirmed cases of different variants of covid19, like the Brazilian variant.

“We don’t know that if it gets out of hand they will shut down again until everyone possible gets the vaccine. Because that is what the government is basing everything on, vaccination for operations,” Cornell said.

He said to reduce wastage and possibly save income, he preps food then cooks according to orders.

“With food you have to be smart. Before you could have cooked and left stuff out. Now you have to prep and wait till someone comes along, and then cook,” he said.

Savannah life

Williams explained that most vendors at the Savannah have sold there for many years, and the businesses have become a form of community. While there are no requirements to pay rent to use the space, permission still has to be given by the association and by extension the National Carnival Commission (NCC), which oversees the operations at the food strip.

“You have to put in a request to the association, and we will review it. Once there is not too much duplication of services we allow it,” he said.

Vendors are also given access to water, and are also allowed to use generators for power.

But there is a limitation in the form of space. Before covid19, Williams said the the Savannah strip was home to about 37 vendors, with a maximum capacity of 40. Now, at the government's request, the association has reduced the capacity to 32.

"It wasn’t hard, because a lot of people were under pressure and could not come out. Now there are less than 32."

Last Friday, there were 25 vendors up and running.

Williams added that while some of the areas used by the vendors were not originally designated for people to use, the association tries its best to give people opportunities to earn a living.

“There are a lot of people that want to come and try, others who have their own clientele, but we always try to hear the cries of the people that approach us and work with them,” he said.

Williams, who has been selling at the Savannah for 12 years, said he started with just a tray full of fruits.

“I started walking around the Savannah and going to offices and offering the service. Now I have equipment and I am doing punches, smoothies, and so on. It was just an idea and I worked the idea. I didn’t have much money either, but determination and perseverance is everything.”

Patrons, too, have made it a family ritual to visit the Savannah for food.

One customer, who goes by the name of Desiree, says she usually comes around month-end to treat her family.

“I would come with my daughters and we would relax and have something to eat and enjoy the ambiance. We came today for a little brain-cooler. The kids were fed up staying home and it was a long week, so we just came to get something to eat. Besides, there is hardly anywhere else to go.”

One hopeful vendor, Shenika Danclair, said she hoped to make the Savannah strip the place where she finally begins to follow her passion – sweet food.

Hoping to open under her business name K Bubble Waffles, Danclair was at the Savannah strip looking for information on the process of getting permission to operate.

She plans to offer "home-made ice cream and waffles...mixed with different ingredients like chocolate chips and nuts and cranberries,” she said.

Danclair was among the many who were forced out of employment by covid19. After losing her job at Hakka restaurant, she revisited the business idea while at home with her son, Josiah.

With the support of her husband Justin Phillips she registered the business and did research to ensure her product would be appreciated.

“I did dry runs, wrote a business plan and I had product testing. It took me around three months. I had a great experience with waffles and ice cream, and if I could bring that experience to someone else, that would make me happy.”

When Business Day last checked, Danclair said she was still awaiting a response, but had been told the Savannah may already be at maximum capacity.

Something is better than nothing

Despite the challenges, vendors at the Savannah strip are grateful they are able to once again make a living. Williams said most vendors, although they are not making as much as they did before covid19, are still glad that something is coming in.

“As the manager I thank God, because it is still better than nothing,” Williams said.

“People have their own rent and things are getting expensive. People may have taken out loans and are struggling to pay it.

“In some cases both husband and wife are not working. Some people may have used whatever savings they had because of the first lockdown and after the second they had to use up the rest of the money – probably investment money – to survive.”

NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters says the commission assists the vendors in any way it can, covid19 or no covid19. He said when events take place in the Savannah, the vendors would usually have to move, but would also get preference.

“We keep all these things in mind whenever we have activities in the Savannah,” Peters said “We try to get opportunities for the vendors. It is one of our mandates.”

But he said soon there may be further regulation of the Savannah strip, as the commission contemplates charging some kind of payment for use. The NCC is expected to meet with the vendors to discuss the possibility of payment and other matters on Thursday.