BUSINESSMEN LAMENT POOR SALES

The Tobago business community is lamenting extremely poor sales this Christmas. Despite traffic pile-ups in Scarborough resulting in a half an hour drive to a destination that would normally have taken five minutes, the businessmen are reporting the worst Christmas season ever. Several of them said that because Tobagonians were normally known to be late shoppers, yesterday’s turnout was expected to be greater.

They blamed their demise on the fact that potential customers were now opting to take the fast ferries to Trinidad in search of better bargains. Several also noted that shoppers were constantly complaining of the high prices of the items on sale. One store owner explained that they were operating at a great loss as the same outlets that they would have purchased their items from earlier in the month for re-sale at Christmas, were the ones stealing the customers with their “next to nothing” bargains. They noted also that more emphasis was being placed on purchasing household and food items than on toys and other gifts. They are, however, hoping that the sales would pick up by yesterday.