The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian retailers yesterday disclosed that sales for the industry’s vital Christmas season have gotten off to a strong start despite the global supply chain crisis.

Adriano Baldacci, Micronet’s marketing manager, told Tribune Business that early festive sales have been “excellent” and scores of people have been pouring into the store.

“People are mainly shopping for small items like laptops, tablets and ear-pods, Apple accessories and Apple watches,” he added. “People are also ordering television sets this time around. We’ve literally just launched our online store. It’s still in the infancy stage, but we are pretty satisfied with how things have gone thus far.”

Micronet is experiencing supply chain bottlenecks in common with much of the retail sector due to shipping and transportation challenges in the US. Mr Baldacci said: “The only thing that we have really any sort of concerns with is we just don’t have the stock levels that we usually have.

“But the sales are still there and we still have stock right now. So, you know, we’re just hoping that we’ll be able to have enough to make it through Christmas, but things are going pretty well so far.” However, it is “too early to tell” if Micronet will be in a good position for next year once they have sold out of stock for this holiday season.

Lucile Nancoo, floor manager for the Seventeen Shop, said sales are “good” this year despite the challenges in getting sufficient stock for Christmas. The retailer is awaiting just one more container before Christmas Day, which should arrive by the end of this week.

She added: “A lot of people have called and said they are coming in this weekend, and they have been calling and asking us what do we have. o far it’s been good.”

Keva Gotlieb, general manager of the Sports Centre’s Sandyport location, added: “As of the moment, things are not really much different than it was through the course of the year. I have a feeling people are kind of waiting to be paid, the Government workers and the like.

“So while we have not been suffering, it’s not really picked up to where we would say that this Christmas season is really upon us, but I can’t complain.”

Ms Gotlieb said she was expecting sales to grow after government pay day this coming Friday. The Sports Centre will have all its stores open this coming Sunday to capture persons looking for holiday gift items. She warned, though: “People are still out of jobs, whereas last year they were optimistic. But, this year, they have become discouraged.

“A lot of our containers have been delayed in any event. We can only get them as they are shipped, but they are slowly streaming in. While we will have stock, some of our goods won’t arrive until after Christmas. So what we have been doing is getting our customers to pre-order so we can capture them this season and tell them their orders will be delivered after the Christmas season.”

Items such as exercise equipment and machines are not the major sellers for the SportsCentre. Instead, it is apparel, as consumers are trending towards more “outdoor activity” now that the COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed.