The owners of Barbados’ newest mall, The Laterns at Hastings, say the challenges of opening a business during the world’s toughest recession have not daunted them.
Frederick George, director of the South Coast enterprise, told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that the owners were prepared to work with tenants to ensure that as many shops in the mall remained open in the coming year.
“It was a challenge then and it is a challenge now. You can never anticipate what the future will be, but the whole idea is to grab an opportunity when it comes along.
“It was tough times when we started construction. But no one thought that this recession would take this long,” he said of the current business environment.
Admitting that there had been some closures, George said some shops were still seeing significant activity.
“As long as people are alive, they are going to spend. So it is our obligation to get as much of whatever [business] is out there into the mall.
“The rest is up to the tenants, to get them into their shops and restaurants to [buy] the products. I am very happy to say that they are doing a good job,” he said.
Addressing the island’s present economic conditions, the Lanterns director suggested that Barbados’ diversification efforts had not gone far enough and it was now in “a very precarious position simply because they have all their eggs in one basket”.
He said it was therefore necessary that the Government developed a programme that ensured people grew more of what they ate.