Clusters of people and long lines at some stores in south Trinidad did not seem to faze shoppers who came out for the annual Boxing Day sales yesterday.
While everyone wore their masks, they had no issue standing close to strangers.
Each store had sanitation stations while some stores also did temperature checks.
JDs Exclusive in Princes Town and San Fernando had some of the most sought-after bargains.
One shopper at JDs Exclusive in Princes Town said there were scores of people standing outside the store when the doors were opened at 5 am.
He said he usually wait for the Boxing Day sale to do most of his shopping. While only a limited number of people were allowed inside the store at both locations, there were still a lot of people shopping at one time.
Some people even brought their children with them, including babies in arms. The shoppers told Guardian Media that they were pleased with the discounts.
One shopper at the San Fernando Branch said she first went to the Princes Town branch and the prices were very good.
She was not concerned about the COVID-19 virus.
Another woman Natalie Horsford of Princes Town said she shopped every year on Boxing Day.
Asked whether she was concerned about the crowds, she said: “A little but COVID is everywhere. As a matter of fact, it is something that you cannot really get away from but you just have to be on the precautionary side.”
Although the lines were long, she said she was not bothered because the line was moving fast and the prices were worth it.
Another customer Raymond Ashby of Siparia said he was not in the store by choice.
“The madam pull me out to come to make a little shopping for the Boxing Day celebration,” he added.
Ashby said he did not know what the prices were like in the store.
“I just hand over the cash, let them go and do their thing and when it is time to go, we go. I holding the line it have real people so we have a little while still,” he added.
Ashby said he was “not in the least” worried about COVID-19 because he was healthy and has a properly functioning immune system.
“Everybody has to die sometime, something has to kill you but they making it seem like if you take the vaccine that you won’t die,” he said.
An official at the San Fernando, branch declined comment.
Gulf City Mall, in La Romaine, was also abuzz with activity.
However, at Detour Store’s mall branch, management took no chances.
Shoppers were required to sanitise and do temperature checks before they enter the store. They also hired additional security to help manage customer traffic and also to ensure they were adhering to the public health regulations.
Manager Devika Rajkumar said: “We have been trying our very best with these COVID-19 restrictions. We have all the sanitising stations available at the counters.
At the change room areas, we have five change rooms on board right now and we are trying our very best to keep everything sanitised.
We are asking customers to stand at the six feet distancing and we hope that this will continue for the next amount of hours,” Rajkumar said.
She said anyone who breached the regulations would be put out of the store.
“We have all the Ws being practised, fully equipped with the masks. We want everyone to wear the masks properly. Once we see you without the mask we will ask you to step out and we have extra security here to make sure that all protocols are in place,” she said.
Noting that some customers were standing outside the door before they opened, Rajkumar urged people not to rush because their Boxing Day sale will continue today.
“This Boxing Day sale, Gulf City extend it for another day so will be here tomorrow as well so no need to rush down and make it a loud crowd because we will continue with the same prices tomorrow morning. Our prices were based on the Christmas sale that we would have had from ten per cent all the way up to 50 per cent and we also have the extra ten per cent today and tomorrow…we just want to be safe here today.”
At Francis Fashions/Shoe Locker, customers were also asked to sanitise and check their temperatures before entering the store.
One customer told Guardian Media that from what she observed in the mall people were following the COVID-19 protocols.
“When you coming in the store they making sure to tell you to sanitise. They doing what they are supposed to do,” she said.
Asked whether she would venture into a crowded store, she said, “Yes, I will still go in because at the end of the day I still know that I am protected by Jesus so I will still go in.”
But sales were not so good for some of the street vendors on High Street, San Fernando.
Ricky Rampersad, who sells belts, complained, “Things real slow. They just walking and watching.” He even dropped his price by $25 but that did not help with his sales.
Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Commerce president Kiran Singh said at the larger department stores some people were so excited to get the best deals it slipped them to utilise the hand sanitisers or social distance in keeping with the health protocols.
He said, “We hope that they don’t suffer the negative consequences of congregating in close proximity in a few days from now.”
Singh said some businesspeople indicated that their customer traffic was heavier than Friday.
With more shopping expected today and in the lead up to Old Year’s, he urged customers to practice and business owners to enforce the public health regulations.
“Unfortunately, some business people in their drive to make as much money as possible and of course recover from the loses they would have faced over the last year, the social distancing did not seem to play a major role in the operation of their businesses but we want to remind entrepreneurs and customers, please for the sake of your health, and for the health and safety of your children, loved ones, friends, family, workers and strangers in the street, to practice the social distancing please.”
With a steady increase in COVID-19 mortality and infection rate, he said, “We are desperately worried to safeguard the lives of citizens. We cannot continue like this. And I will continue to say that we are of the view that we cannot afford another lockdown or any other restrictions being put into effect.” He again urged people to get vaccinated.
