Summary
- Booksellers and uniform dealers face uncertain times on dwindling sales and revenues after the school reopening dates were moved to January.
- The postponement announced last week portends a further dip in sales, which have been on a downward trajectory since March when the State shut learning institutions to combat the spread of Covid-19.
- Education Cabinet secretary George Magoha said all basic learning institutions would reopen in January, dimming hopes of business recovery for the book and uniform traders.
Booksellers and uniform dealers face uncertain times on
dwindling sales and revenues after the school reopening dates were moved
to January.
The postponement announced last week
portends a further dip in sales, which have been on a downward
trajectory since March when the State shut learning institutions to
combat the spread of Covid-19.
Education Cabinet
secretary George Magoha said all basic learning institutions would
reopen in January, dimming hopes of business recovery for the book and
uniform traders.
“We were hoping to make sales from
uniform replacements starting August but the date reviews mean we remain
stuck with unmoving stock,” said Kanti Haria, partner at Uniform
Outfitters.
He says there are hardly any customers at
the 90-year old outlet along Muindi Mbingu Street in Nairobi, pulling
sales down 54 per cent.
Paying salaries for the 75 employees is proving difficult.
Negotiations for a pay cut and retrenchment with the worker’s union are
ongoing.
Mr Haria said the only other time business was this bad was during the 1982 coup.
Brian
Atigara, proprietor of Ungwaro School Outfitters that serves Lavington,
Kileleshwa and Kawangware in Nairobi, said he had not sold a single
uniform since March when the schools closed.
Savani’s Bookshop has recorded a 90 per cent drop in sales since the State imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and shut schools.
“To
survive, management is considering diversifying the business by
expanding the portfolio and pushing sales through e-commerce,” Munoru
Rhoney, sales representatives at Savani’s.
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