some vendors uneasy over higher operating costs, falling sales
Preparations are proceeding for the May 2 opening of the rehabilitated Water Street Vendors Arcade just months after the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) ordered the dismantling of shacks that had made the location an eyesore in commercial Georgetown.

Open for business: One of the “new look” stalls in the Water street arcade.

The ‘new’ arcade houses 180 stalls and its construction was financed by the vendors with technical support from the M&CC. It is also seen as a major step towards easing the congestion created by vending in the Water Street area.

Deputy Clerk of Markets Errol Brisport, the municipality’s ‘point man’ on the arcade rehabilitation project, told Stabroek Business earlier this week that the vendors who will occupy the arcade and who had been granted special permission from the council to vend on the nearby pavement while the stalls were under construction, have been given until April 20 to occupy their new stalls.

Brisport said while he doubted that all of the stalls would be completed by the April 20 deadline, he felt it was important to “push” the vendors, since their occupation of the arcade had to be seen as part of a broader effort on the part of the municipality to address the street vending problem.

When Stabroek Business visited the site earlier this year, some vendors had already commenced construction of their new stalls against the backdrop of piles of rubble from the dismantled shacks that were yet to be carted away. Some of vendors told this newspaper then that they were uncertain as to whether they could raise the money to complete their stalls within the deadline set by the council.

Getting ready: Stalls under construction in the Arcade.

Brisport told Stabroek Business that while some of the vendors had been less tardy than others in completing their stalls, the municipality had taken the view that it was important to move the project along. “What we found too was that there has been a more recent sense of urgency on the part of the vendors to complete the project which is linked to the fact that no one really wants to be left behind.” He said that while it had been hoped that the project would have been completed before Easter, he was not unhappy with the pace at which it had proceeded.  He said while the set deadline was likely to meet some of the stalls in a less than complete state, he was satisfied that the overall rehabilitation project would be “in shape” to facilitate the May 2 opening.

According to Brisport, some of the infrastructure which the council is responsible for installing was already in place but that lighting and fencing were yet to be installed.

While some of the vendors with whom Stabroek Business spoke this week consider the rehabilitated arcade to be “better for business” others told this newspaper that the coincidence between the completion of the arcade and the current consumer spending squeeze which is affecting  sales even before they have begun to occupy their stalls gave cause for concern. One vendor said that the investments in the new stalls meant that some of the stallholders now had less access to “hard cash” to purchase goods. “Some of us will have to live on credit for an extended period and when you add that to the fact that people are not buying, it becomes even more difficult.” She said that while the new stalls may be “a good investment” she anticipated higher operating costs and more competition “for sales” once the new arcade was “up and running.”

Meanwhile, Brisport said that the May 2 opening of the arcade will coincide with the ushering in of a regime of “zero tolerance” of vendors on the streets and pavements in that area. He said that once the vendors are properly installed inside the arcade it was up to the City Constabulary to ensure that more street vendors did not take up places in the area.