NASSAU, BAHAMAS — After meeting with government officials last week to discuss their concerns, Straw Market Association President, Rebecca Small said that things are looking up for vendors who were closed for the greater part of the pandemic and saw a soft opening between this year and last year.
As the country and tourism sector regains its economic posture following the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years which restricted the free flow of commerce; now that the Bahamas is “back in business” according to officials, they have also sought to fully reopen the straw market making it mandatory for vendors to work the full week.
However, vendors who were initially upset with the hybrid model are now reaching out to the government to keep things as they are, with vendors taking turns every week, working three days at a time.
Small said that the vast majority of vendors find that setup to be more economical, she explained what was said to her during the most recent meeting with government representatives.
“We have not definitively made a decision in the way. However, you can let the vendors know for the rest of December 2022 that they could relax and have a good Christmas because we will come back to them after the holidays,” she explained that the officials told her.
The association president added that they stated that they will take what she has expressed into consideration and rethink their plans for vendors come next January.
” I thank them for that position because I was able to report back to the vendors that we could have a rotation Christmas which is everybody back in the market.
“[…] I said, as leaders, we want what is right for the people and in this instance, the people, the majority of the persons are requesting the rotations because the revenue is better with the three days versus everybody back in seven day because of the competition level.
At full capacity, the downtown straw market has 500 vendors, which Small says increases competition and leads to people making fewer sales.
Small explains however that there are a few individuals who want to go back to the seven-day model, but their stalls are particularly placed in areas that get more traffic than others.
“Once you check the apples and oranges, it’s a great disparity in it and I said whether I want, personally me, the rotation is better because it’s less on everyone, less on the tourists, the verbal completion in front of the tourists.
“You know that type of back and forth in front of the tourists is not a good image and so the straw market authority employees who wish to remain anonymous, fight for this rotation to remain because it’s better for everyone,” Small said.
Loading ...
