The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian retailers say business volumes are picking up slightly with Mother’s Day sales providing a further boost.

Nicole Aranah, Lorene’s Department Store’s operations manager, told Tribune Business she believes Mother’s Day was driving business through last week. Sales made then, she added, do not necessarily represent the start of a more sustainable trend.

She said: “We’re doing business but we’re not doing what we used to do. When the hotels open up, I’m sure the economy will trickle down to us, but with the pandemic and everything clothing is not a necessity.”

“Unless someone needs a certain outfit for a certain occasion” is when people would come into Lorene’s, Ms Aranah said. She added: “Everybody doesn’t have the regular salary that they normally have. So clothing is kind of a last resort, but they’re more focused on food and necessities.”

Ms Aranah said she is waiting for tourists to return in stronger numbers because many families depend on the hotels and related businesses for work, while restaurants and bars rely on the sector’s spin-off effects.

John Cathapoulis, general manager of John’s Shoe Store, said: “Compared to the beginning of the year business is picking up a little, I would say, but we’re not where we were before COVID-19 ever happened. It is better than last year.”

Lucy Burrows, general manager of Geoffrey Jones, said business has been “pretty good” over the last few months. She added: “The only bad thing is that we can’t get enough things in stock.

“It’s been a challenge replenishing our stock because, in the US, everything was shut down for so long and our suppliers are just catching up. There’s still certain things we just can’t get, like we can’t get certain dryers, refrigerators and some freezers, for the most part, as it depends on the availability of where it was made.”