No Xmas Eve crowds in Port of Spain: 'People not spending at all'

It was Christmas Eve in Port of Spain, one of the shopping capitals in TT, but the crowds that are usually seen were nowhere to be found. Frederick, Queen and Charlotte Streets had people shopping, but not as much as store owners and vendors are accustomed seeing the day before Christmas. People were bustling about, but the bags they were carrying were small while some had no bags at all.

One vendor selling bicycles, toys, curtains, sheets and other home items described this as “pain in every language.”

Dianne Collier, “People ain’t spending money at all, they tight. They have to call it out they pocket. Last year was more worse, but we still seeing something this year.”

She said she knows that food prices are high and is contributing to the low sales this year. She said in disbelief that she had to spend $10 for one stalk of celery and is planning to switch to bottled seasoning from the groceries. She said that move will be cheaper for her.

“I remember buying a bunch of celery for $5 that was a long time ago,” Collier claimed. “So yuh done know what going on.”

She said she has been a lot of parents “minching” on food and trying to make their children happy and still get them a toy.

“They want to see their children smile, but they will be crying when they see their plate of food for the Christmas cause it eh go have no pie or ham. They cutting short to make somebody smile which is nice.”

A shopper in Zrada on Queen Street echoed the same sentiments on buying market goods and called the prices “very ridiculous.” Olive Thompson said she had to forego buying some food items in order to buy clothes and gifts for a gift exchange and for her family.

“Normally, I would have the whole list with all the types of provisions. But I had to tell my mother that pimentos are expensive and we have to try to substitute or just make our meals without certain seasonings. We’ll just buy one bundle and try to make it last, that sort of thing.”

A street vendor selling home items said for her, this week has been busy and almost all of her items are already sold out.

Manager of Zrada, who wanted to go by Amelia, said last Christmas was busier in her opinion and now its 50 per cent less than last year.

“Normally, Thursdays are our busiest day, but only Friday was okay. People are mostly buying the cheaper items. The $100 or less items are the ones people are looking for and we have a lot of sale items.”

She said people are gravitating towards the two-for-one deals since they would rather pay the money and get two of something over one.

She added that she doesn’t see sales picking up until the Carnival season.

Kathy-Ann Osmond said, “It was very slow Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday) so far the sales have been good. We’ve been here since 4.30 am to get a park and we’ve seen people shopping, people are happy and we are happy.”

She said her busiest day was Friday and she’s feeling the love from the customers.

The owner of Bridal and Curtain Shoppe, on Frederick Street, said sales are not like before, but she’s just going to accept it and move on. She said focusing on the problem won’t solve it, so she doesn’t plan to stress herself out.

The owner, who preferred to go by Laurel, said, “You can’t blame the government, that’s the way it is, I don’t blame no government, and he’s trying his best.”

She said in sales and profit, there’s an 80 per cent drop.

“We can’t fire staff, we have to keep on with the staff because they’re with us for so long and we appreciate all their help, so we have to take out from our pockets to pay staff. They’ve been with us for too long and I will not do anything else, but keep them forever.”

She said all she can do now is hope for the best and continue believing in Christ as this drop is just a phase.