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Vendors in downtown Port-of-Spain say sales have been much slower this year compared to previous years. They are blaming the decline on the cancellation of the Independence Day military parade tomorrow.
Ashaki Pierre, who runs a small sewing shop in Drag Mall, told Guardian Media that sales of her festive national clothes have been slow this year. She said, “It’s not as fast as before, like last year, but people are still buying. Given there is no independence parade and no fireworks as before, they are buying, but not as before.” She’s now turning her focus to Republic Day with the hope that the sales increase between the holidays.
Another vendor, who only wanted to be identified as Kevin, sells children’s dresses in red and white on Independence Square. He said, “Normally, this is what we do every year for independence, but because we don’t have any independence parade this year, the sales have dropped. It dropped bad. The response isn’t nice. Everybody is complaining. We bought the material, and the material is still at home. All that we have right now, nobody is buying.”
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