The Tribune

BY ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE BUSINESS REPORTER

anixon@tribunemedia.net

UNIFORM retailers are reporting steady back-to-school sales under the Government’s VAT-free holiday, but Careys Fabric and Uniform Store says a last-minute uniform change at one school could cost the business thousands of dollars in unsellable inventory.

Kim Gibson, managing director of Careys Fabric and Uniform Store, said business has been strong as parents take advantage of the Back-to-School VAT Holiday, which runs from August 8 through September 5. For uniform retailers, however, the timing of the VAT holiday has been overshadowed by concerns over school uniform changes.

Ms Gibson said Careys has been particularly affected by changes at L.W. Young Junior High School, where suppliers were informed on July 17 that certain uniform requirements had changed.

“That was a huge inconvenience,” she said. “We, the stores, the suppliers, found out about it July 17 by way of Facebook. And we had already ordered uniforms for that particular school.”

According to Ms Gibson, the school introduced new dry-fit shirts for Grades Eight and Nine that were only available through the school, while Grade Seven students were permitted to continue wearing the previous uniform.

She said the change left retailers with inventory they had purchased months in advance and could not easily sell elsewhere.

“We are experiencing a great loss with that school,” Ms Gibson said. “We stand to lose thousands and thousands of dollars as well because we order from October of the previous year.”

She described the decision to change the uniforms without notifying suppliers in advance as “grossly unfair” to merchants that have supplied schools for years.

The concerns echo those previously raised by James Wallace, owner of Janaees Uniform Centre, who said uniform suppliers typically order inventory almost a year before the new school year.

Mr Wallace said Janaees’ sales are currently tracking at roughly the same level as last year, with two additional containers expected to arrive this week.

“We’ve moved on and continue to run our business,” he said.

However, he said retailers remain unclear about which schools are selling uniforms directly and whether the practice is affecting private suppliers.

“Regrettably, we have heard nothing about schools officially with uniforms in terms of if they’re selling them or are they not selling them,” Mr Wallace said.

He said Janaees has not seen an increase in sales compared with last year, although the store continues to experience significant customer traffic.

“We have to use a tent basically to give the people more personal service,” he said, explaining that staff help parents identify the correct uniforms and sizes to avoid mistakes.

While the uniform changes have created uncertainty for retailers, Mr Wallace said the overall level of business remains stable.

“We have seen no increase in the sales,” he said. “We see the same level of traffic,” he said. “But on average, the sales are the same as last.”

The Department of Education has since acknowledged problems with how some schools handled uniform changes. Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell recently said the ministry had met with the leadership of two schools and a uniform supplier following complaints from retailers. She acknowledged that there had been “missteps” and said schools are normally expected to provide suppliers with more than a year’s advance notice when uniform changes are being considered. Ms McCartney-Russell also stressed that parents are not required to purchase uniforms directly from schools and should be free to purchase them from any supplier.

Ms Gibson said that clarification was welcome but argued that retailers can still suffer significant losses when a school is the only source of a newly introduced uniform item.

“If they’re the only people who may have it, because nobody else knew to order it, then the parents will buy from the school,” she said. “They have to.”

Despite the loss associated with L.W. Young, Ms Gibson said Careys expects its overall back-to-school performance to remain positive.

“Everything else is going well,” she said. “Sales seem like it’s going to be as good as it was last year despite that loss.”

Mr Wallace likewise said Janaees is continuing to focus on serving customers and ensuring it has sufficient inventory for the start of the academic year.

Retailers also praised the earlier announcement of the annual Back to School VAT Holiday. Ms Gibson however, said there is still room for improvement.

“I think this year it was earlier than usual,” she said. “However, there are some people that like to shop early, and so it would be wonderful if they would do it even perhaps in July, so the persons who like to shop early can really take advantage of it.”

She suggested that the Government consider extending the initiative to give families a longer window to benefit.

“Nonetheless, it was a positive move, and people are taking advantage of it,” she said. “Maybe they could look at extending it as well. So maybe they could extend it for like a month.”

Her comments come after the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation previously called for earlier notice of the VAT holiday, arguing that retailers need time to adjust pricing systems, inventory and promotions.