The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian food retailers yesterday blamed high unemployment and reduced in consumer spending for sales declines of up to 50 percent in recent months.

Atwell Ferguson, Golden Gates Supermarket’s general manager, told Tribune Business that his sales have currently fallen by half year-over-year as shoppers remain cautious over the economy’s rebound prospects amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the economy and people losing their jobs and things being tough, people are just watching their pockets. That’s the biggest problem right now. People are still eating, but they are only getting enough for what they need,” he added.

Mr Ferguson said tourism’s revival is the “major key” to reducing unemployment, restoring consumer confidence and sparking a rebound in spending. “Tourism is our number one industry and then everything trickles down, so once tourism gets together then everything falls into place. But for now we’re down 50 percent from last year. Things are just slow,” he added.

Bradley Rolle, Centreville Food Store’s assistant general manager, said: “Sales have been in decline since after the New Year’s holiday. “It’s probably going to start to rise a bit as a result of the Easter holidays coming up.

“The thing for us in my store is that we have some products that, during the Easter holiday, sell quite a bit, like buns and crackers and things of that nature. In sales we are close to 45 percent down, because every day is like a breeze. There is no rush, so we can serve people and get them out on time. The sales are just down.

“I can tell you one thing. We have had people come in who have been supported by food vouchers by the various candidates because election season is now here. So we have people from various parties come in and purchase maybe $15,000 in food vouchers, and then they would send people in to collect food items.”

Travarus Barrow, Phoenix Supermarket’s general manager, said his business was bucking the downturn by producing increased sales. He added: “It’s picking up. People are spending their money and they aren’t being prisoners any more. They are coming out and respecting the COVID-19 protocols.

“It’s been a whole year now since the pandemic started. Last year March was when things started to go crazy, but for us looking at things it’s almost as if the epidemic was never here.

“We’re not at 100 percent yet, but I would say that from a scale of one to ten we are at a seven. We have Spring Break coming up now, and a lot of people have lodges in the Family Islands and they are bringing in their boats, trying to do what they can for their community.”