Slow sales at Bridgetown Market

AS the Crop Over Festival wound down to its final day, those in the Arts and Crafts Village were crying out about the low turnout at Bridgetown Market and the poor sales over the last few days.

The Barbados Advocate visited Spring Garden on Sunday and spoke to some of the vendors in the village who, despite displaying quality Barbadian arts and crafts, found that their products were mostly ignored by the patrons along the strip.

In the village, artist and designer Sylvester “Adelabu” Clarke created a range of bags, wraps, purses, and tapestry using a hand loom weaving machine. As he used the machine, he vented his frustration about the various direct and indirect factors which inhibit him and his artistic fraternity from making a profit. One of his major concerns outside of the low turnout for Bridgetown Market, is the lack of a permanent home for artists and crafts people, who find it challenging to set up operations in busy shopping areas like Bridgetown and Oistins.

Clarke, who has been displaying his work at Bridgetown Market for the last 15 years, presently operates from Hope Land, St. Philip. The self-taught artist and designer, who has been in the industry for the last 26 years, uses local materials like West Indian Sea Island Cotton in his work.

Two stalls down by Opastijar Nobl, Director of Fashion and Branding Samuel Gittens also commented on the poor sales and lack of interest in arts and crafts this year and also the year before.

In addition to its sewing and haberdashery services, the business is also the provider of high-end designs, apparel and accessories; and focuses on eco-friendly materials and recycling of organic and non-organic materials in their work. For Gittens, it is hard for an artist such as himself to invest heavily in his quality craft and not get any gains from the event. He noted at this juncture of the Festival, those coming to Bridgetown Market had spent most of their money on other events with the final focus on Kadooment Day. Further in the village, other vendors shared the sentiments of their neighbours on the outskirts of the venue.

Around 4 p.m., crowds were starting to build along the highway. However, in addition to the arts and craft vendors, food and other stalls were also seeing little interest in their offerings. Nevertheless, Barbadians and visitors brought their families to Spring Garden and enjoyed Zumba fitness sessions, horseback riding, stilt walkers, clowns and an intense road tennis match held at the corner of Mount Gay Distilleries and Massy Distribution Centre. Many people huddled around the various ice-cream vendors who provided cool treats as relief from the humid, yet overcast evening.