Senior Reporter
kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt
Woodford Square has been transformed into an open-air marketplace by the Port-of-Spain City Corporation.
However, vendors participating in the annual Christmas market say very few customers are patronising their stalls and they are worried that they will not get any value for the $200 a day they are spending to rent booths.
The market, which opened on Tuesday and operates from 9 am to 6 pm, closes today.
Items for sale range from hand-crafted jewellery to home-made delicacies and vendors at the market said they had hoped to attract some last-minute shoppers but there has only been a trickle of customers
“Sales was not good, sales was not good,” one clothing vendor complained.
“I’m hoping that it picks up between today and tomorrow. It was advertised and you thought that it was going to have that traffic per se, but it didn’t really come about”
Another vendor, Tenisha Mercury, who has an assortment of clothing, jewellery and toys for sale at her booth said the cost of renting space at the market made it unlikely that she would make a profit.
“The price for the rent is $800. Two tables and two chairs for the $800 but the sales ain’t matching up to the how much we pay for the tables and thing,” she said.
Yesterday, although several people were seen walking through Woodford Square not many of them were making purchases at the Christmas market.
Attempts to contact Mayor Chinua Alleyne for comment were futile yesterday.
