CHRISTMAS SALES

With just a few days to go before Christmas, shoppers and businesses alike.. seem cautious during the festive season.  Sharla Kistow explains.

Transcript

00:00 Toys, body lotion, body sprays and jewelry. It's definitely beginning to

00:07 look a lot like Christmas on Frederick Street for shoppers and retailers as

00:11 people go from store to store looking for last-minute gifts and household

00:15 items. Local artisan Lashona Yatali, owner of Caribbean Artisan, who specializes in

00:21 beaded jewelry, natural soaps and handcrafted candles, describes her craft

00:27 as a labor of love. I find myself in such a meditative state, especially when I'm

00:33 creating, so I enjoy this. This is not hard work for me and it will never be

00:37 hard work. She says sales have been good and she's grateful for her customers,

00:42 both old and new. It's been great. I have a lot of young adults coming, they're

00:49 bringing their parents, they're especially telling their parents that they want waist beads.

00:52 In terms of my skincare, I have bundled products. I have the gift

00:58 baskets as well, then I'm also having specials like four soaps for $100.

01:02 And a lot of my clients already come because they don't want to deal with the

01:05 Christmas rush, so they already come and they make sure they're stocked up because

01:08 they're saying they're buying for now and January, because you know January is a hard month.

01:11 But some businesses are seeing that while for traffic is high, customer sales

01:16 are not matching what is being seen. Store manager of Center Stage Elise

01:21 Mohammed says business is slower than usual as she has seen a 25% decrease in

01:26 sales compared to last year. We have to bring the things outside to get sales,

01:31 you know, to capture people walking, you know, walk by customers and we do have

01:37 the ridiculously low prices just to catch back our money because at this

01:41 point, look at merchandise. President of the Chagonas business chamber, Baldaf

01:46 Maraj, says there's a heavy police presence in the borough during the

01:50 festive season to ensure the safety of shoppers, but more can be done.

02:17 Maharaj says while sales are a bit slow, businesses remain optimistic as people

02:23 usually get their last-minute shopping done days before Christmas.

02:45 The Chagonas business chamber president acknowledges that Chagonas and

02:50 environs are being ligured by heavy traffic on most days and that can take

02:55 hours to get in and out of the borough. He tells us that the mayor and the

03:00 Minister of Works and Transport have been discussing ways to help alleviate

03:04 heavy traffic in and out of the area.

03:09 [Speaking in Chagonas]

03:37 Shala Kistel, TV6 News.

03:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]