Parents make final back-to-school buys as retailers report mixed rush

Back-to-school shopping has peaked in the week before school, store owners say, as they prepare for the rush while parents pick up a few items for their children.

While some parents said they had largely finished shopping early and were only returning for stationery, others admitted prices were higher than before.

With the new school term approaching, retailers expect the final wave of shoppers to continue moving through Bridgetown stores, while parents who are still missing essential items face the added pressure of finding the right sizes before stocks run out. 

At fabric and clothing store Abed’s on Swan Street, owner Eddy Abed said business had been “busy” and “robust”, with the store still seeing strong movement as parents make their final purchases.

Eddy Abed managing director of Abed’s (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

He also confirmed that stock delayed earlier in the season had finally reached the stores. 

“Some fabrics in particular were late by as much as a month,” Abed said. “Two and a half weeks ago we cleared it, got it into the stores and I can say that it has been well received.”

He said the delayed items were not marked up when they arrived, as he just wanted to get them to the customers. 

But parents waiting until the last minute were urged to move quickly, as some basic items and sizes were already becoming scarce.

“We have started to run out of sizes in very basic items and there’s no hope of us getting in replacement inventory before, as soon as probably January,” Abed said.

He identified some khaki short pants, khaki shirt-jackets and blue check gingham shirt-jackets among the items with critical sizes already unavailable. Despite those shortages, he said about 90 per cent of the store’s inventory remained in stock.

The situation was different at Bridgetown Duty Free Caribbean on Broad Street, where location manager Mark Clarke said the back-to-school period had started slowly.

Mark Clarke Location manager at Bridgetown Duty Free on Broad Street (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

“We started to see an increase after the Crop Over festivities, as per usual, and we’re seeing some last-minute customers in store now,” he said.

The business had not experienced shipping delays, although sales were not at the level of the previous year, Clarke said. He expects the last-minute rush to continue through the week and into the start of the new school term.

“You usually get those last-minute persons coming in. So during this week, up until maybe Saturday.”

He added that some parents could still be expected to shop during the first week of school because of school changes or different booklists.

The store also held a back-to-school fair last Saturday, which Clarke said brought activity into the store, particularly among children, as the toy section was “filtered into”. 

At Paradise Home & Department Store on Swan Street, supervisor Tanya Clarke said the store saw parents shopping earlier this year, leaving it to cater mainly to those who waited.

Tanya Clarke supervisor at Paradise Home & Department Store (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

“Back-to-school sales for us this year [were] good,” she said. “We found that the parents and the guardians came out earlier this year to shop to get all the essentials needed for back to school, pens, pencils, books, school bags, everything like that.”

The supervisor said the most recent rush began on Saturday.

“The rush really started on Saturday. Actually, Saturday was very nice for us and we started around after 12 or so, and that carried us straight until about after three.”.

The late shopping period is also extending to beauty supplies, with Paradise Beauty supervisor Kristen Griffith reporting strong demand for products used for school hairstyles.

Kristen Griffith supervisor at Paradise Beauty Supplies (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

“Generally for the upcoming school year, what we would have made our most sales in so far would have been the TZ braiding hair,” she said.

The store had seen demand across different lengths of braiding hair, as well as braiding gels, Griffith said.

She also noted an increase in nail-product sales, which she attributed to students of the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI).

The store partners with SJPI each year to supply students in its nail, massage therapy and cosmetology courses, she said, offering a ten per cent discount on supplies, excluding electronics and hair.

Griffith said the business had also experienced some delays in receiving stock, although they had not been severe.

“Yes, we do experience that, and I think that is to do with what’s going on overseas,” she said. “But not too much of a delay because we are still receiving stock other ways.”

For some parents, the final shopping trip was mainly for stationery.

Shanique said she deliberately completes most of her back-to-school shopping early, noting that she does not like the late rush.

Most of her daughters’ items were bought before the end of July, leaving August for smaller purchases.

“So I get all my girls’ stuff before the end of July and in August now, we just come through and pick the little things like the little books or anything extra that we’re going to get.”

For Lisa Harewood, shopping has also followed a familiar routine, with major purchases made earlier and smaller stationery items picked up closer to the start of school.

Lisa Harewood (Photo credit: Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY)

She said she has a 12-year-old daughter at Deighton Griffith Secondary School.

“I kind of get the important things like normally as soon as school finishes and then coming up to the end then I will get the knickknacks, pencils and sharpeners and that kind of thing,” Harewood said.

She said shopping had been “quite good” this year and that she normally shops around, with Woolworth serving as her preferred location for stationery.

Leeshae McClean similarly described her shopping experience as “smooth sailing so far,” as she got everything she needed.

She said convenience played a major role in their shopping, with several stores she visited carrying most of what they needed.

“All the stores that he named were the main stores that we went to because they had everything that we need in one area,” McClean said. “So I feel like that mek it a lot more easier to find everything.”

Her father, Lee Parris, had a different assessment of the exercise.

“For me, it’s been really expensive,” he said. “I’m really outing more money than I thought I would, but everything is going according to plan so far.”

Parris said the family had already visited Abed’s and Woolworths and was at Bridgetown Duty Free as part of the final shopping trip.

(LE)