A bust! And not even last week’s last-minute rush for Christmas could save 2017 for the country’s beleaguered retail sector, says president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Eddy Abed.
On the eve of the final week of shopping for the year, Abed said Barbadians had kept to the traditional and had come out late by the thousands, but their spending was still way down when compared to last year.
And he’s hoping 2018 will finally buck the trend, and bring Barbados’ economy out of the doldrums.
“All of the retailers saw a pickup in sales last week,” Abed admitted. “There was a lot of activity in terms of numbers in the stores and in sales, especially since last Saturday. We all hoped that last weekend before Christmas would have been super.”
But, the BCCI chief said not even that increase would save 2017. (BA)
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