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[barcann.livejournal.com]

Well I am a bit confused with this one... does anyone making business on the Dutch side need to have a license and PAY it every year??? Why should it be different for one category of independant entrepreneurs (or restaurantor renting chairs... )?
The other issue lays in the "market competition" domain...: RIMA (and not REMA as it is written all along the article...) if didn't open their business for retail, certainly wouldn't have survived with the only wholesale business with the market's vendors... So at one point those vendors wouldn't have had a suppliers for their good and would be out of business as well... Nobody can really stop a business to do business...(maybe the vendors should start to be more creative instead to all sale the same thing from one table to the other... and find other wholesale supplier if not making their own product)
But on the other hand I admit that there should be difference in the price between the wholesale and the retail (which I really thought there was since in the store most of the product are labelled : $# for 1, $## for 5, $### for 10, etc....)

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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P
every business on the Dutch side is supposed to have a license and pay for a renewal every year. They were just in our liquor store checking on that last week.
you know how I see the problem?
we are in a free market and so of course everyone has a right to do business. the problem though is..and that is the problem worldwide.. that the bigger businesses can afford to out price and out do little mom and pop businesses.. those mom and pop businesses have almost disappeared world wide. Those poor women in the market don't stand a chance against a big business.
I don't think Rima cares much about wholesale any more because they are doing so much retail business.
and from the day they opened their store, I said..oh oh the poor beach vendors.
I do think a wholesaler should be a wholesaler and not go into direct retail competition with its wholesale clients but I guess that doesn't happen.

[barcann.livejournal.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2009 09:11AM by Barbara1.

Hey!

Read the article and thought about it as well.

This is another sign of our difficult economic times.

It seems fewer people are traveling...those who are spend less and search out the better deals. Rima's always has good prices, fantastic selection and decent service.

You can't expect Government to step in and protect business people at every level. The street vendors need to be more creative and seek goods that are not available at Rima's to sell. We purchase Christmas ornaments from every location we visit and could find NOTHING made in SXM.

As times get tough world wide the frustration trickles down. We will see more of it as time passes.....it isn't getting any better! I have seen an increase of this frustration in traffic during our last two trips...folks are impatient and we have been yelled at more than once for being cautious.

There is a market for Island made items like inexpensive handicrafts, toll work,paintings,ornaments and costume jewelry. Merchants who seek out and market these original items will have something to offer that Rima's doesn't.

IMHO......


Denis

yep, it's only gonna get worse.
4 ships in yesterday and Dee says Front Street was packed and business was absolutely terrible.

[barcann.livejournal.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2009 09:35AM by Barbara1.

Denis said :
"There is a market for Island made items like inexpensive handicrafts, toll work,paintings,ornaments and costume jewelry. Merchants who seek out and market these original items will have something to offer that Rima's doesn't."

That's what I menat when I said : "maybe the vendors should start to be more creative instead to all sale the same thing from one table to the other... and find other wholesale supplier if not making their own product"

All of the vendor in Marigot and/or in Philipsburg sale the same products... and all the products (or 90% of them) come from RIMA... You see one vendor, you see them all... I understand the time are tough but everything cannot be blame on the governement and on the supplier. They need to take the bull by the horn, to question themselves, to re-adjust themselves to the today's customer's profile, to look at the circonstances and the possibility of variety of product to be sold and not think only "RIMA"... They should become RIMA's Competitors at this point... I know that's easier said than done but...
I remember those market in Africa, nothing was imported, everything was made there and each vendor had something different to propose... Creativity and diversity is a big parameter in competition.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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I don't disagree with the need for diverse and more creative things to sell. The problem is that most of the creativity of the people on the island has been lost.
Very little original and unique hand made articles are available for sale here, unfortuantely.
what the markets offer is all the same old stuff.
But the vendors in these markets are not crafts people or artisans.
They are mostly unskilled people trying to sell anything to make a buck or two to feed their families. Sometimes they are the only breadwinners in the family.
They have always been able to do this successfully , but now they no longer can do it so easily.
I don't know what the answer is but I do feel for them.

[barcann.livejournal.com]

My experience has been, that there are more hand made/painted etc. items at the Marigot market than at the Dutch side market.

Well this is an interesting problem, and probably doesn't have an "easy" solution. But I do see a couple potential courses of action. First let me offer my opinion that I too believe a business owner has a right to do business as they see fit, but they also cannot expect customers, whether retail or wholesale, to have to like it. And if they lose customers due to their business methods, then they will have to live with that as well.

I can speak to this with a little experience as a business owner myself. In our business we too sell at both the retail and wholesale market, however, we do not sell retail in direct competition to our wholesale customers. We sell our products at the retail level in the US and Canada only, and wholesale to the retailers in the Caribbean. And our wholesale customers do get discounted pricing. Therefore I do not feel we come in direct competition with our wholesale buyers, and they have known this in advance.

With regard to the retailers in this situation, it doesn't appear Rima's has chosen to be understanding of their wholesale customer's needs. If the facts presented in the article are true, then in spite of the frustrations and complaints, Rima's has chosen to ignore the wholesale customers, maybe with the intent to shut them down. I think there are two potential solutions.

1. Individually find alternate sources for your products, either on island or off island.
2. Band together and form an alliance, or association.

With this second scenario an officer could be appointed to accomplish two goals:
1. Represent the market vendors to Rima's and to the local governing authorities,
2. Find suitable manufacturers to produce products that can only be manufactured exclusively for association members. With the vendors pooled together, there should be larger quantity orders and they should be able to bargain lower price points. This might even work with Rima's. "You must sell to all Assoc. members at x% below your retail." I know this solution will take more time to develop, but probably provides a more permanant solution. So if they need an Assoc. head, I'm available,

I'm curious what your thoughts about this are. I don't obviously reside on island so my information on the subject facts are somewhat limited, but it seems to me that if they banded together with Marigot vendors, as well as beach vendors, there would be a large enough buying block to get the price point where it needs to be. Perhaps eventually underselling Rima's. If Rima's looses their competitive edge, they'll be ready to listen. What are your thoughts?

JeffV

Last year, we visited multiple islands via a cruise ship. Every "local" vendor on every island had the SAME merchandise. ALL claimed that they made the products. (I do NOT buy from liars.) The difference we saw at Rima's was it had better selection a MUCH better price, and they do NOT claim too be the artist. Of COURSE we are going to buy at Rima!

On the other hand, we WANT to support TRUE artisans wherever we go. If we find one, we always take time to watch them do their art. If we LIKE the art, we almost always buy from that artist. Why? It is UNIQUE, it supports the LOCAL economy, and it perpetuates creativity and hope among local artists.

In my mind, Rima is just the Wal-mart of SXM. As we all know, Wal-mart will, one day, RULE they world!

Jeff
Most of the "stuff" Rimas sell are the sam ason other islands with the islands name on them. The shorter term solution would be to sell local ( only made on SXM) things. As Barbara said the lack of local artisans doing this is lacking. But since this area is lacking there is room for growth. Ie the guy that does the baskets on OB, or more custom swimsuit shops. I understand that some of the women that sell on the beach aren't too artistic BUT maybe their husband, son, daughter, neighbor is.

Rima's has matured into a thriving and well know business and you can't blame them for seeking this.

SXM??? Wendell