Chaguanas is one of the major shopping hubs in Central Trinidad particularly for the Christmas Season. TV6 News ventured to the heart of the borough to get a feel of the ground and shopping trends. Here's Alicia Boucher with the details.
00:00Based on recent reports, Christmas sales in many areas are down.
00:04Here in Chagornas, the story is quite the same, at least for most of the vendors.
00:09However, there are one or two that are seeing an increase.
00:12Small vendors line the main road in Chagornas, many of them outside of established stores.
00:18It's a hustle to rake in the dollars for Christmas, a time where they are expecting to see a boost in sales.
00:25Rani Passadi has been a businessman in Chagornas for more than two decades.
00:28This year, he has a variety of items, from blankets and socks to footwear.
00:33How are Christmas sales going?
00:35Down. Down by a lot.
00:37When you say by a lot, if you could put a percentage, what would you?
00:40Between about 50%.
00:41Really?
00:42Yeah. Things is not like this entire year was bad.
00:45He tells us, while vehicular and human traffic are heavy, people are leaving the borough with fewer shopping bags.
00:51Interestingly, from his perspective, the situation between the United States, Venezuela and this country might be having an impact.
00:59With this Trump thing going on too, people, since the last care we had on the Friday, things are real downturn because people are not sure what's happening in the country.
01:09So you actually noticed a drop in sales since then?
01:11Yeah. But in general, since the beginning of the year, since after Carnival, yeah, that was it.
01:18At SaaS exclusive brands, things are looking up, perhaps due to strategic moves to place year-round items that may have garnered interest on sale.
01:27When did you see the most influx of people?
01:29Like two weeks, like now compared to two weeks ago, has been a major, major growth in like sales and like people coming in and stuff like that.
01:37Okay, so you're seeing more growth now than two weeks ago?
01:40Yeah.
01:41And what are some of the items that are actually selling in the store? Because I know you have clothes.
01:45The shoes, of course. The shoes, the biggest, the biggest thing right now is the shoes.
01:49Everybody coming in to look for specific shoes. If not that, then the price is bringing them in.
01:53Alexander Gordon, familiarly called Chiny, is an annual street vendor.
01:57His stocks include handbags, batteries, oils and more.
02:01Sales would usually be booming at least a month before Christmas, but that has changed.
02:06How would you say the sales are going this particular year?
02:10Well, it is so bright, but we're hoping for the best for tomorrow, Christmas Eve.
02:16What was it like last year? Was it also this slow?
02:19Yeah, yeah. Well, for the last couple of years, we're seeing this pattern.
02:23But what is on the mind of customers?
02:25Well, Brie McGriff was roaming to update her wardrobe this year, admittedly on a tighter budget than in previous years.
02:32As far as, like, funding and that kind of stuff, like, yeah, when price and that kind of thing, price tags have gone up, but the money has not went up as well, so budget had to drop a little bit.
02:44And sometimes you buy the same, you don't want to buy the same thing over and over again.
02:48Curtains were last year, so this year had to be a little different, you know?
02:51It's a little more stringent for Joanne Mirage, as she is trading what she wants for what she needs, while capitalizing on the various sale prices.
03:00Because it's hard. Things are expensive.
03:02You know, I and M, groceries gone up, even stuff that you would normally buy.
03:09You're not buying, because it's expensive now.
03:12So this year, I'm guessing you would have prioritized what first?
03:15Food. Food, yes.
03:18Will that trend continue?
03:20That's left to be seen, as there are still a few days until the entire season comes to a close.
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