As Trinidad and Tobago’s retail sector fully reopened on Monday, retailers along the Chaguanas Main Road reported a slow start to business.

When Newsday walked along the main road on Monday, there was a steady flow of pedestrian traffic.

But that didn’t quite translate into high foot traffic for businesses, as retailers told a different story.

Manager of JPS Hair World Kevon Persad told Newsday he wasn’t surprised business was sluggish at his store. He pointed out that it offers products for use by beauty salons and hairdressers, which are closed until next Monday.

“So far it is looking a little slow. Everybody first week might be slow.

“Still, we’re thankful that work has started back and everything would start to flow again so we can make some money.”

[caption id="attachment_907646" align="alignnone" width="1024"] It was business as usual in Chaguanas on Monday morning as retailers opened their doors after months of lockdown owing to the covid19 pandemic. Photo by Marvin Hamilton[/caption]

Newsday visited the store an hour after it reopened and at that time, Persad reported just $15 in sales.

Even though Christmas is still a few months away, he is already looking forward and hoping business will continue to improve towards that time.

“It should start to pick up, as Christmas is right around the corner. We’re hoping things pick up for Christmas,” said Persad.

A worker at Judy’s Variety Store said businesses shouldn’t be surprised if they had a slow start.

With covid19 affecting people’s ability to spend, the worker said businesses should consider that people are prioritising and spending their money on necessities like food, as opposed to clothes.

She told Newsday, “People not rushing to buy anything…remember, food prices gone up. Remember that right now a pound of pigtail is $55.

[caption id="attachment_907644" align="alignnone" width="1024"] It was business as usual in Chaguanas on Monday morning as retailers opened their doors after months of lockdown owing to the covid19 pandemic. Photo by Marvin Hamilton[/caption]

“I selling clothes and shoes. So if people have to choose between buying shoes, clothes and food…which one they’ll choose first? Not food?”

During the period of the store’s closure, she said they took online orders and made home deliveries. She said this was necessary to secure the financial state of the store’s staff, which was dire .

La Toya Alleyne is the manager of Miguel Moses’s Chaguanas branch.

Alleyne told Newsday all the store’s staff, including herself, were happy to be working again.

“It’s very great to be back out, because we lost income for so long, and it was very hard. Everybody is happy to be back out, because no money was coming in.”

When Newsday arrived shortly before 10 am on Monday, Alleyne said people were visiting but not necessarily buying.

[caption id="attachment_907643" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A customer checked out sneakers in Chaguanas as retailers opened their doors after months of lockdown owing to the covid19 pandemic. P

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