Sales slow in Spaldings

Dave Lindo, Gleaner Writer

SPALDINGS, Manchester:

AS Christmas Day draws near, many business persons are not overly excited about its coming, as, in recent times, the usual sales boom that is associated with this season has been scaled down.

Creton Bourne is one of the long-standing businessmen in Spaldings, Clarendon, who operates the business Mid Island Pharmacy and Gift Shop located in the heart of the town.

Bourne disclosed recently that, unlike previous years, he will not be doing anything special this time around in terms of stocking Christmas items. "I won't be doing nothing special, we usually stock Christmas items, but we realise it doesn't make sense as sales are very low," he explained. "It is just not profitable. Instead, we stock items that can sell right through the year. We used to do toys, but that has been very disappointing. We try and do books, because we find more people are easing off toys. Now they will buy books."

Bourne added: "In the early days, people used to be more excited about Christmas. At that time, more money was circulating so people spent more freely. People are spending less now."

The business has been around since 1971. It was originally a drugstore, and Bourne, who was a one-time car dealer, along with his wife bought the business from its original owner.

rural@gleanerjm.com