It was the year of GST, record high light bills, the no money no deh epidemic--all that. But still, somehow, shoppers thronged the city's major and minor stores. So what were they buying and how much of it? We sought answers to those questions today as the rush is over, the energy of the season sapped, and business houses are taking stock of how good or bad the Christmas was. We stopped in on a few establishments to see how this year went.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Empty shelves - like this one at A&R and barely a trickle of shoppers in stores in the city mark the end of the Christmas shopping frenzy. Now the stores and merchants are taking stock of how well the Christmas was and tabulating the Christmas profits.
Earlett Lino, A&R
"This year we had more customers than last year. People said no money but everybody tired to get a little toy for the kid so basically up to Christmas eve our store was rammed jammed pack."
Polo Silva, Venus
"Christmas itself is good. Christmas itself was good but the entire year, which you didn't ask me, wasn't all that good this year. It was kind of slow."
Sherman Sawyers, Brodies
"Looking at the figures we were satisfied that the sales were much better than last year."
Keith Slater,
"Well I think we all expected Christmas to be a slow comer this year and I think we were right. Essentially people were a little reticent at spending their money this year I think. Times are tough, we know that but Christmas always comes in some shape or form and it came for us but it came late. I don't think we can say it was a record breaker but we've also had worse Christmases."
There have been worse Christmas shopping seasons, and there have been better, but the consensus seems to be that it was good enough. Notable though is not how many items were purchased, but what an increasingly sophisticated buying public was shopping for. Keith Slater told me that this year at Courts, shoppers turned away form the customary couches and appliances - and put their money, lots of it, into high priced gadgets - like these thousand dollar I-pods.
Polo Silva,
"The high price items like cellular phones and I-pods and the video games. A lot of people were buying cheaper items too so they weren't spending as crazy as other years but they were spending still but not as crazy as other years. I think they were more careful, a lot of people were asking about discounts and calling checking out the prices before they even came in. We had a lot of that this year."
Keith Slater,
"We find a lot more of our customers like the digital cameras, the hi-tech hi-fi, the cell phones, and luxury type goods. So there is a trend that I think is a patter of change and maybe people are thinking that refrig can wait another year, I definitely need that new cell phone or the kids need the new Playstation or something like that. I think people are getting a bit more longevity out of a product, they will make it last another year, non-essential but they got to have that new game or that new phone or video whatever it may be, DVD. It seems to be how things are changing now, probably because of people traveling and getting exposed to more of the high tech products that are available. Of course the prices have dropped quite a bit over the years so it makes it more reachable for the average person. We've had a lot better too, I have to say. So I suppose it was pretty much what we anticipated. Very much a lot of late shoppers this year and they weren't just husbands buying for like their wives or wives for their husbands etc., I think people are a little bit worried about whether they should or shouldn't be spending on some of the high ticket products. But in the main, it was pretty much what we anticipated."
Earlett Lino,
"They were mostly asking for the I-pods, the SPs, and so forth but like I said regular kids get regular toys. The majority of our toys finished especially the educational toys. People were asking mostly for remote cars, trucks, whatever. But because all of those were finished, they had to improvise and get other things. So basically all our toys went very good."
Keith Slater,
"People were a little reticent at spending their money this year I think. Times are tough, we know that but Christmas always comes in some shape or form and it came for us but it came late. I don't think we can say it was a record breaker but we've also had worse Christmases."
Sherman Sawyers,
"The shoppers did a lot of household items, more than the years before. I think it has to do with our better purchasing that Brodies is doing now and they seem to have enjoyed the selection that we have this year."
Alfonso Noble,
Was business better than last year?
Sherman Sawyers,
"Yes it is. This Christmas was better than last year."
So like they say, Christmas brings its own money and while some business houses were satisfied and others thought it could have been better; it's over now, and businesses must now prepare for the long lean month of January.
Some stores - such as the San Cas Group are offering a 10% discount on after Christmas sales, but those we visited say they are not anticipating any after-Christmas sales until complete stocks have been taken.
