SOME Port of Spain vendors are hoping for a Christmas miracle as sales ahead of the holiday season kick off to a relatively slow start.

“It hard, what else I could say? Hard for customers, hard for us,” one young vendor, who gave his name as Derron, told Newsday on December 14 as he sat next to a table loaded with electronics for sale.

He said although the pace has picked up during the pre-Christmas weekend, shoppers are more careful with their spending than ever, buying less and demanding prices that are unsustainable for his business.