Fast-fruit stop - Collin McPherson capitalises on morning traffic
Published:Sunday | November 20, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Collin McPherson knows the pattern on weekday morning traffic, as the cars come towards where he waits at the intersection of Lyndhurst Road and Studio One Boulevard (formerly Brentford Road) in downtown Kingston.
"A two set a traffic. One come 7 and done by 7:45. A next one start 'bout 8 - dat done bout 8:30," he said.
Those peak traffic times, as motorists head towards the commercial district as well as the Kingston Public and Victoria Jubilee hospitals, are also his best business times, for when the cars slow down or stop McPherson gets going. He is one of a number of vendors in a trade that has risen, noticeably, at road intersections across Kingston and urban St Andrew in recent months - fruit selling.
However, with his very quick movements and always cheerful attitude, McPherson has made a noticeable mark on the drivers, many of whom respond to him with a cheerful smile and wave. Plus some advice. "Min'! Too much overtaking!" he said to one young woman who drove around a car that slowed down near to the stoplight. "Mi did see yu, but as me a come yu move off!" he calls out to a regular customer who he had missed connections with a day earlier.
"Me have customers. Me show everybody respect. Yu coulda inna di oldes' car, a love an' respect. Yu coulda a walk. 'Good morning', every morning, a dat de people dem want. All di people whe no buy, me still show dem respect," he said.
It was the drivers who guided McPherson as his trade developed. He started out three years, after being approached by a representative of banana wholesalers Jamaica Producers Group at his shop on Studio One Boulevard, close to the morning sales spot. "Mi see a man walk ova to mi an' say me coulda sell banana. Him give mi a box a banana, start mi off," McPherson said. "Me say one box nah sell a mi shop an is not a fas' ting," McPherson said.
So he moved to the intersection to access the morning traffic. McPherson laughs as he says he used to hand over the fruit "so-so. Them say get some bag, so me get some two pound bag," he said. He also gradually expanded his range, to include orange, melon, pineapple, cantaloupe, American apple, papaya and Jew plum. One banana, an orange and any other fruit makes up a "dollar bag", selling for $100.
standard combination
When fruit prices went up a few weeks ago, there was a temporary hike in his retail price. He sells fruit individually to persons who do not want the standard combination, and that is where his speed also comes into play. A man slows down close to the stop sign and shouts, "two banana!". McPherson turned to the stall where he keeps the fruit, grabs two bananas and tosses them onto the empty passenger seat of the left-hand drive vehicle before the driver has dug up the money. "See, mi fasta dan yu!" McPherson said, laughing.
He goes to Coronation Market at 4 a.m. to get fruits, and McPherson is set up and ready for the traffic at 5:30 a.m. every weekday. It is consistent enough, though, for McPherson to consider setting up a metal shop in a yard beside the stop sign, opening out to the road.
"Fruits is like a everyday thing, a business weh cyaa spoil. People want that a morning time, even if is a one orange," he said.