Merchants claim ‘rescue from brink’ in reopening

The livelihood of many business owners and employees has been rescued from the brink following the tumultuous five-week, 24-hour national shutdown imposed by the Barbados Government to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

On Monday, dozens were delighted to usher in phase two of the country’s gradual re-opening, providing much-needed economic activity for many of the island’s establishments.

Bridgetown has not quite been restored to full activity, but there was a noticeable increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Even though businesses are still facing an uncertain future, some owners told Barbados TODAY that a decision to prolong the full shutdown would have been the nail in the proverbial business coffin.

“We would have had to shut down the store. That’s the bottom line,” said Ken Reeves, Manager of West Riley electronic store in City Centre Mall when asked about the implications of a continued shutdown.

With seven employees still awaiting over five weeks of unemployment benefits from the National Insurance Scheme, Reeves commended the “troopers” for making the most of a “rough” situation.

Ken Reeves

The struggling retailer is only allowing two customers in store at a time while encouraging persons to place their orders in advance.

Mandatory temperature checks will also be imposed later this week when thermometers clear the Bridgetown Port.

“While we are happy for the re-opening, we still need enough revenue coming in to pay our workers. If we don’t get that, we would have to close again. But we see the silver lining around the clouds and we are hoping Barbados can be restored to normalcy soon,” said the optimistic manager.

At #1 Beauty Supply’s Broad Street and St Michael’s Row branches, business was bustling as mostly women queued outside to make their purchases.

Mohammed Jeouni, who owns the 12-outlet establishment, revealed that dozens of workers were anxious to return to work after weeks of struggling to make ends meet.

Although the establishment has been severely affected by the shutdown, Jeouni was adamant that there would be no salary cuts.

The increased traffic in and around The City also represented a glimmer of hope for dozens of taxi operators who have been enduring thousands in losses amid a tourist season, which has all but vanished.

Mohammed Jeouni

After earning just $10 while operating in Bridgetown for almost eight hours, Mark Williams admits the last few weeks were the “roughest” he has experienced in over 20 years.

“It’s rough, it’s real rough man. People want to live and this is rough because you want to earn for yourself and your family but it seems you just have to make do for the time being,” said the taxi man.

Adrian Cox, who has been washing taxis in the Bridgetown area for over 12 years, says he is happy with the return of economic activity. But he understands that if the number of positive Coronavirus cases begins to spike again, the newfound privileges could be swiftly taken away.

“The [economic] impact has been great but sometimes you have to save for a rainy day,” Cox explained.

“Store owners are crying out, bills have to be paid and people have to eat, but you have to wait it out and remember the health of the nation must come first,” the car washer acknowledged.

Other citizens like David Hall, aren’t taking any chances and he revealed that he stopped working for almost ten weeks.

The veteran taxi driver who has been operating for over 26 years told Barbados TODAY he was only in The City to purchase fresh produce and had already started looking at other avenues for earning revenue.

Adrian Cox

“As a taxi driver, you are a frontline worker and you are high-risk because you come into contact with people you don’t know and you don’t know the history of their travel or who they come into contact with,” he said.

Among the re-opened businesses across the country are those who provide products and services for the automobile sector.

Roger Hill, Owner of Toyota Dealership, Nassco, while thankful for phase two of the re-opening expressed hope that vehicle retailers would soon be allowed to operate again.

“I’ve been in the auto industry for close to 40 years and I have never experienced anything like this before. It’s going to hit the automotive industry in a very hard way,” he revealed. kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb