COVID – 19 has affected everyone financially. Commercial activity has slowed down tremendously and there are mixed feelings towards the festive season which would normally be the most successful period for some businesses
Ana- stassga Richards, general manager at Good as New pawn stores said,
“people don’t have the spending power that they normally would so we are only going to reap the benefits from those people who are still gainfully employed because some people still not able to make ends meet.”
With this decline in revenue, non – essential businesses have had to get creative in trying to attract customers to stay in operation. Audley Campbell, a sales representative from the clothing store, Flawless Kat Kouture said that to prevent the business from operating at a loss, they had to have an ongoing sale since March.
“ We have been having a sale since March. That is what we did to prevent being short-staffed or so we nuh send home nobody, We have gotten a little boost in the sales. It nuh dat hundred like it used to be but we getting there” Campbell said.
Richards also says that she expects a significant decline in sales especially on Christmas Eve because the stores usually remain open until about 2:30 Christmas morning but with the curfew that’s in place, they’ve already lost at least four hours in sales.
Hopeful
Although many businesses are facing financial woes this year, there still is hope that the COVID Christmas will still bring in a substantial amount of revenue.
“I think we should get more sales [this Christmas season] but it wouldn’t match up to previous years unless we use our sales skills to get people to purchase more”
said Lanae – a sales representative from the clothing store, Loud Fashion.
The island-wide curfew for December starts at 10 p.m. nightly and ends at 5 a.m. each morning with exceptions for all public days which will have a curfew starting at 7 p.m. nightly and ending 5 a.m.