ALMOST A YEAR AGO, four women – Maxine Eastmond, Kay Thomas, Joanna Ward and Lynmarie Jack – opened a store called Barbadiana, selling 100 per cent quality Barbadian items.
“We started the store because we had our own products and we wanted to create a storefront to make those products more accessible. We thought that there were so many other, initially female, entrepreneurs out there that had products that were of excellent quality,” said Jack.
“We wanted to make them available to the Barbadian public and encourage them to use these products on a daily basis because not only are they comparable to something you might import but in many cases they exceed the quality.
“We wanted basically to expose Barbadians to these products, make them accessible by putting them in a place where people can come, find them easily, and purchase them,” she added.
As they head towards the store’s first anniversary, consumers are proving that it was the right decision.
“In the last year, it has been very interesting, very good. People are loving the concept, loving the idea that they can just come to one place and browse and enjoy what is Barbadian and not having to go hither, thither and yon to try to find an item. They are very proud that it is Barbadian,” said Eastmond.
She added: “It has been good and as I said, we’re just scratching the surface. There are a lot of people out there still to be found, to be discovered. The thing is to get it Barbadian made. They’re a lot of people who have stuff but it’s made in China.”
Thomas agreed. “They do a product and have it manufactured in China. Sometimes, they’re the brain child behind it but they outsource it, it comes saying made in China as opposed to made in Barbados. We don’t want to carry that because it would seem as though you’re still supporting the things that come from outside,” she said.
“There are some really great products on the market generally, that we’re really proud of, some people are doing some fantastic things and it’s always interesting to find out what people’s minds come up with and create,” she said.
Eastmond and Thomas spoke to BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY at the Sky Mall small business that offers, among other things, personal care items, home decor, food and wine, craft, bags, tutus for children, jewellery, confectionery, and gift baskets, which can be customised and filled with items in store.
Eastmond and Thomas explained that sometimes they found vendors at craft markets, some contacted them at the store, others walked in and sometimes they contacted the manufacturers.
“We started off contacting them, Kay was our person and a lot of people came to us. We had meetings here . . . then after a while people started coming,” Eastmond said.
As the number of vendors increased, she said, she did not think they would “go bigger. If anything we would branch out but we’re not ready for that yet. We want to get this right”.
She added: “Yes, we are doing local but we are targetting the local market first. We want people to love what we have. We have things that you can use at your home, for yourself. Yes, you can take gifts, but love it first.”
Thomas noted: “Very often, people associate things locally made with stuff that you can use as souvenirs and not necessarily with things that you yourself can use on an everyday basis. You would see that we have lots of food items, things that you can use daily. There are local options available as opposed to . . . using the imported ones and we’re trying to showcase the local quality is on par with, and sometimes superior to, the imported ones.”
They also said Barbadian consumers’ attitude to local products was “getting better” and they had become more “open to the concept of buying local products”.
“I think that is in large part due to the Buy Bajan campaigns that the [Barbados] Manufacturers’ Association and the [Barbados Investment and Development Corporation] would have done. So, we’re grateful for that initial ground work, because it has helped. One of the things we have been able to benefit from is that we can buy quality local goods as well. You’re not just buying local to support local but you’re . . . getting value for money,” Thomas said.
The businesswomen said they were always on the lookout for vendors, with “novel things, individual things that you might not necessarily see everywhere”. (Green Bananas Media)