Western merchants cautiously step into Christmas season

Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

While it would appear that this Christmas will be a low-key affair for most Jamaicans due to the unstable economic climate, there are contrasting views from business operators in western Jamaica as to whether they think the season will be successful.

Ambassador Donald Rainford, owner and operator of Donway, A Jamaican Style Village, which is located along Gloucester Avenue in Montego Bay, is optimistic about the season.

"We are having and we expect to have a very good season," Rainford told Western Focus on Wednesday.

Opened in December 2012, Donway, A Jamaican Style Village is a combined accommodation and entertainment facility catering primarily to the local market.

"We will not be able to accommodate the number of guests that we are likely to have … . We advertise [during the airing of] 'The Voice' and we have got a lot of overseas bookings as a result. In addition, we also have a lot of Jamaican bookings, too," Rainford said.

"Our food section, where we offer gourmet dishes, is very well patronised all day … . We are not catering for tourists per se. We are an accommodation and entertainment facility for everyone," he said.

CLOSING FOR TWO WEEKS

The operators of Weathershield Limited, a construction supplies company in Hopewell, Hanover, also have a positive outlook. According to administrator Sharline Lewis, business is going very well, so much so that the company will be maintaining its tradition of closing its doors during the last two weeks of December.

"Generally, our Christmas season would stop mid-December as we are a construction company and always close for the last two weeks. We don't expect sales to increase, but to remain the same, because we are getting jobs out now, and come next week, we will begin winding down," Lewis said.

In Westmoreland, Owen Sinclair, proprietor of Sinclair's Bargain Centre in Savanna-la-Mar, is not so confident. He attributes his gloomy outlook to the poor state of the economy and the rise in competition.

"The sales have dropped. Part of it is because we have many more players in the field," Sinclair told Western Focus. "There is no stimulus for Christmas, there is no sign [of it] on the horizon. It's not like first time when a lot of work used to be given out. The sugar factories used to employ a lot of labourers. It's not so anymore, so the income has been reduced, and with competition and all that, I would surmise that we are about 33¹/³ per cent of other years," he said.

CONCERNED ABOUT STAFF

Sinclair said he was also worried about his staff's purchasing power over the Christmas season and beyond.

"You have staff, and you always give them a little Christmas bonus. Now you have it hard to find it, and then next year, they don't see any light out of the tunnel. I go to bed every night and I fret about my staff because I don't know what they are going to do. It's not like they can leave me and get a job, and although what I give them might not be a whole lot, it still helps," said Sinclair.

Though cautiously optimistic, Basil Johnson, proprietor of Discount Lumber and Hardware in Montego Bay, thinks the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar has had a harsh impact on consumers.

"We have been selling a lot of our goods, and as a result, it has helped our sales tremendously, but I don't anticipate any major increase in sales, realistically," Johnson said.

"Because of the devaluation, the cost of goods continues to go up. As a result, the purchasing power is cut for a lot of my customers, who now buy less. People are still shopping for Christmas and they are aware that if they don't buy now, when they are ready to buy, the same amount of money will buy them a lot less, so it's in their best interest to shop as early as possible," he added.