Second Bajan Christmas Marketplace held Saturday

In order to bring some Christmas cheer to local entrepreneurs who were hit hard in their sales this year because of COVID-19, the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF) $20 Challenge in association with the Department of Commerce, under the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, hosted its second Bajan Christmas Marketplace on Saturday at Sky Mall.

Corey Rose, one of the consultants at the Small Business Association who came up with the initiative, said the idea was to assist struggling small businesses during the pandemic, by giving them spaces to display their works.

“The whole idea was to get small businesses to come out and display their products, since they have such a hard time with sales during COVID-19, especially with the decline in the revenue coming out of the tourism sector,” he said.

“For us, this project is like a Bajan Christmas market, where we are having all of these young entrepreneurs display their products to reach a winder market than they would have earlier in the year.”

Just over 50 participants took part in Saturday’s showcase, with many of them populating both the bottom floor and 1st floors of Sky Mall.

Two more markets are being planned for the holidays, with the final one planned for Heroes Square on December 18. (SB)