Christmas: Traders complain of poor sales at Mamprobi

Traders at the Korle Gonno Tuesday market, a community in the Ablekuma South constituency of the Greater Accra Region are hopeful that beginning Tuesday December 24, business activities would pick up to usher in the festive season.

ghananewsonline.com.gh’s visit to the market on Monday, though one could witness brisk activities, the traders complained that business was not as good as they were expecting.

According to them, most people were just buying the usual foodstuff that they buy for their daily meals each time, hence, they were not feeling any difference in the sales that they were making.

Aunty Maamle, who has been selling cassava and plantain at the market for the past 20 years, said she was expecting people “to buy more for the holidays as Christmas falls on Wednesday.”

However, “When they come, they still buy the normal GH₵10 and GH₵5 as they usually do every Saturday. I’m hopeful they will come again on Tuesday to buy more”.

But local spices seller like Theresa Akushika, said business was not bad as she is expecting it to pick up.

According to her, in previous years, people used to buy different types of spices to the tune of about GH₵20 or more to go and blend them at the local blending shops within the market, but now most of the people who were buying the spices were buying in smaller quantities to blend at home.

She was also hopeful that within the season business would pick up so that she could make a lot more sales. The truck pushers and load carriers also have their misgivings towards the bad nature of patronage this year. “This season has been a rough one, people are not buying and so we don’t get good money like the previous years, making it difficult to cater for our families. Even no money for a fowl to celebrate the Christmas”, one Alidu disclosed.

ghananewonline.com.gh also observed that a lot of traders roaming about with their wares ranging from fowls to Christmas toys with the hope of cashing in on the festive season.

Haruna Iddrisu, who sells broiler fowls, said as at 1p.m. on Monday, he had sold 10 out of the 28 fowls that he brought to the market. He said sales was good but was still hopeful that between by Christmas day, he would be able to sell more fowls.

In a related development, traders in the clothing, shoe and cosmetics businesses in the constituency have complained of poor sales.

The retail traders said though some of the prices of their products has been maintained and in some cases reduced to attract more buyers, however, there is still no improvement in the sales.

The Manager of Erico Palace, Kelvin Ayensu, dealers in Men’s shoes and clothes for women and men, said people now tend to invest their money in profitable ventures rather than making petty expenditure.

He said in order to attract customers his company has maintained prices and increased advertisements on radio.

Madam Abigail Ayeram, a trader of cosmetics, purses and clothes, blamed the poor sales on the increment in fuel prices, explaining that any increment of fuel price trigger an increment in price of goods.

Other traders, who spoke to our reporter, blamed the unstable cedi against other major trading currencies, adding, “that had resulted in an increase in the prices of many Christmas goods imported from neighboring countries”,

Source: Eric Nii Sackey || ghananewsonline.com.gh  [email protected]