There was mad rush yesterday at the Accra Central Business District (CBD) when parents, guardians and their wards trooped to various bookshops to procure textbooks and other stationery for their wards in preparation for the new academic year for basic and Junior High schools.
The rush by these parents and guardians was to get their wards their enlisted textbooks, exercise books, note books, and other stationery like pens, pencils, Mathematical sets and drawing boards.
When the Ghanaian Times visited Tudu and the Okaishie-Bicycle Lane at the CBD yesterday, it observed that traders were busily seeing to the demands of these parents and guardians.
While some traders indicated that the reopening of schools had sparked their sales and were therefore recording booming sales, others said they had so far had low patronage blaming it on the bulk purchase of books by private schools.
Admitting there were increments, parents said they had no option than to get their wards the stationery they needed for the academic year.
Mrs. Lovelace Lawson, a vendor at the Okaishie-Bicycle Lane admitted that “things are going well” adding that “it is our season.”
She stressed that the festive season normally brought them very low sales, but they always picked up in the early months of the New Year (January to March) due to the reopening of schools.
Likewise, Mr Kwame OseiYeboah, a wholesaler, also underscored the booming sales, adding that “these are the times we also make our money. We have schools, parents and other individuals coming in for their stationery.”
However, Mrs Efua Obil, a vendor at Tudu, who had no buyer at the time Ghanaian Times visited her shop said her sales had declined unlike previous years when people relied solely on bookshops for their stationery.
She indicated that private schools, particularly those that had partnerships with other bookshops and had printing presses sold out stationery, thereby reducing their clients.
As such, Mrs. Obil appealed to these schools to leave the sales of the stationery to book vendors and focus on other areas.
Mrs. Victoria Amoakowaa, a parent who spoke with Ghanaian Times said she quickly had to rush to the Accra business centre to get her daughter who was with her at the market all her enlisted book items.
She said the festivities could not allow her to purchase the items as there were lots of people in town.
Admitting that there had been a hike in the prices of the items, Mrs Amoakowaa said “the difference is not much and even if it was we will still end up buying for the kids because they need them.”
Alice Adobea, also a parent noted that her wards were going back to school tomorrow for which reason she was there to purchase their stationery.
However, Ms Adobea said she should have purchased these books before the festivities due to the increment of prices and not in the New Year, adding that she could not procure all the items and would therefore have to come later to get the remaining.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR AND ANITA ANKRAH
