Early start to school shopping

Back-to-school fever is in the air. Although the new school term is set to begin in September, people are already in Bridgetown busily seeking out school materials. Textbooks seem to be at the top of the list, and manager of Days Book Store, Keith Austin, reported that some of his shop’s books were already sold out, most of them being English books. He added that it was a “normal thing” to see early shoppers, and on a daily basis he was seeing a “steady crowd” of people coming into the store.At Brydens Retail Inc., one of the popular back to school shops, there were many shoppers yesterday. “On average, more than 200 people can be seen coming into the store on a daily basis,” said manager John Holder. He added that the early shopping was a regular occurrence, with people buying school materials such as pens and pencils, although the main focus was textbooks. Cloister Bookstore, another popular spot, got off to an early start. “Last Friday, the first day of vacation, back to school shopping had started and the store was really full,” said manager Joyce McQuilkin.The hunt for school uniforms also contributed to the back to school fever. Mapps Factory Outlet, in Tweedside Road, and Uniforms Unlimited, in Black Rock, both reported increased sales. On Broad Street, at School Supplies, upstairs Cave Shepherd, people gathered around to buy material for school uniforms. Supervisor Carolyn Rose said: “Some people prefer to get material rather than buy ready-made uniforms because the child may be tall,” adding that the store was seeing a lot more shoppers doing early shopping than last year.The schools most represented among shoppers were Luther Thorne, Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary and Christ Church Foundation. (GS)