Some traders on the eve of Christmas have expressed mixed feelings on Christmas sales with majority expressing dissatisfaction due to low sales and their inability to make more money to boost the celebration.
In a random interview conducted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday, scores of shoppers also expressed concern about the high prices of livestock and foodstuff.
Madam Afia Agyeiwaa, a 50-year old businesswoman, who deals in clothing at Accra Central, told the Ghana News Agency that sales this year was not as encouraging as previous years.
“Even though people troupe to the markets and shops, they turn away after asking for the prices of the materials, which they claimed are too expensive,” she said.
“As for me, I feel like the Christmas has now become just a date we need to observe but not a moment to celebrate anymore.”
Mr Ernest Obeng, 30 years, who works with a financial institution said; “I travelled to Accra to have a better feel of the Christmas festivity since the Christmas mood in Kumasi was dull”.
He said even though even though people were trading in variety of Christmas items, traders were complaining of low sales.
Mr Musah Moro, a 42-year old waste collector, who operates from Kasoa to Tesano, said the waste collection business had gone down this Christmas due to reluctance of clients to pay them instantly.
“Many of our clients often postpone the payment for the services we render by collecting their wastes with an explanation that they have no money. This affects our work negatively.”
“Few years ago, our clients used to give us Christmas gifts anytime we went to collect their rubbish, but today is 24th December and we have not received a single Christmas gift.”
Mrs Vida Boateng, provision shop owner at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, said sales were good, especially with the edible items and cheap soft drinks.
“Soft drinks that cost between GH¢1.00 and GH¢2.00 are often bought faster unlike the other ones with slightly higher prices that do not move as fast as we want.”
