Comments on: Retail Sales Drop In September & October

By: Not Exactly

Not Exactly — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 09:34:57 +0000

Not true: roller coasters go up too. The “PLP slide” would be more accurate.

By: wahoo

wahoo — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 18:35:26 +0000

He is a junior minister. What does the real/senior minister have to say about this? Giving the retailers tax breaks to fight a failing economy is like fighting cancer with a box of band-aids.

By: steve

steve — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 15:28:15 +0000

Hey Mr Furbert, here’s one for the next retail index press release… “there were significantly more Sundays in this period than in the previous 8 years hence the Decline” give it a shot!

By: Triangle Drifter

Triangle Drifter — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 14:27:44 +0000

If it has taken 3 months to publish these figures the Minister needs a new drill bit. That or a new drill is needed. This one is obviously broken or has an inept operator.

Three months behind in figures for such a tiny economy. Good grief!

By: Me

Me — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 08:59:28 +0000

He know figures very well get him to explain a pyrimid scheme

By: Me

Me — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 08:55:51 +0000

Titanic island

By: Sandgrownan

Sandgrownan — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 03:50:12 +0000

The end result of almost 20 years of PLP mismanagement, incompetence, and xenophobia.

Tick tick. This is the PLP status quo

By: Eve

Eve — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 14:39:43 +0000

The Minister didn’t have to “drill down” to look for excuses for the decline in retail sales, he just needed to admit that “residents” find living in Bermuda too costly. The Island’s economic health relies in large part to the resident’s support. The Government needs too stop hitting ‘snooze’ and wake-up and do something about the cost-of-living.

By: Jack Archer

Jack Archer — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:45:49 +0000

Mr Furbert wanted to wait to drill down on the figures LOLOL – and it took this long to come up with his reasons?! You could not make this stuff up!

By: Cow Polly

Cow Polly — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:23:00 +0000

This is a bizarre excuse:
As an example, it should be noted that the decrease in retail sales reported in September 2019 when compared with September 2018 can be partly attributed to the shortened opening hours of retail establishments on September 18th and 19th due to the passing of Hurricane Humberto.
Did Furbert, like the rest of Bermuda, rush to the shops to make sure we had enough supplies? I know I did, yet he discounts that.

This fails to understand why people are shopping less:
But, residents can greatly assist our retailers by supporting their businesses and purchasing items and products right here in Bermuda.”
Mr Furbert we have less cash in our pockets and, remember, consumer confidence is at a five year low

Again, this fails to take into account other underlying factors:
“Additionally, motor vehicle sales are significantly down due to myriad factors. Firstly, buyers are choosing to bypass dealerships and purchase directly from overseas markets [i.e. taxi operators]. Secondly, there is an emerging second-hand car purchasing market that also circumvents the direct sales from distributors. Additionally, people are keeping their cars much longer.”
A small number are going directly overseas (taxis – note, he does not mention cars), but people are holding on to their cars for longer because they don’t have the cash or are concerned about the future of the economy! The same with second hand cars.

He completely overlooks the fact that online sales are down – ie people are spending less and yet still tries to tell us to buy locally!

And he wanted to drill down on these figures??!!.

By: DeOnion

DeOnion — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:10:45 +0000

Mr Furbert your explanations are an embarrassment to your office. For goodness sake go!

By: Red rose

Red rose — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:09:43 +0000

1. Sales hit by shorter hours due to humberto – but he completely overlooks how everyone stocks up before a hurricane hits!

2. Online sales fall as well – people have less money!

3. He tries to explain away car sales dropping by a whopping 26 percent on a few people buying directlt from overseas and the other reasons he gives are because people either cannot afford to buy new or buy at all!

God help us if his reasoning took all this time. A child could ‘drill down’ on these figures in five minutes!

By: Toadinthehole

Toadinthehole — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:54:27 +0000

Where are november abd december figures? Are you drilling down on those as well or maybe you are explaining them to jason hayward?

By: Donderered

Donderered — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:52:20 +0000

Furbert’s excuses are hilarious!

By: frustrated

frustrated — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:52:04 +0000

Still not concerned? Furbert comes up with an embarrassing selection of excuses, yet the bottom line is we are seeing a year on year decrease since the PLP came to power.

Compare that to the year on year increases witnessed under the OBA.

For the hard of understanding, decrease/declining/falling = bad. BAD.

When is this madness going to stop??? When are they going to do something to increase the population???

By: Um Um Like

Um Um Like — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:51:22 +0000

The sales of building materials is down partially due to a hurricane hitting. How foolish do you think the voters are? Oh wait…

By: Triangle Drifter

Triangle Drifter — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:29:48 +0000

As Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise”.

By: Trump supporter

Trump supporter — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:25:08 +0000

Flip flop flip flopping again. Guys are clueless.

By: Rockfish555

Rockfish555 — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:23:14 +0000

Glad we had that 0.01% increase in GDP otherwise I would be worried about these figures

By: Joe Bloggs

Joe Bloggs — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 12:18:16 +0000

” it should be noted that the decrease in retail sales reported in September 2019 when compared with September 2018 can be partly attributed to the shortened opening hours of retail establishments on September 18th and 19th due to the passing of Hurricane Humberto”

Seriously?

“Additionally, motor vehicle sales are significantly down due to myriad factors. … Secondly, there is an emerging second-hand car purchasing market that also circumvents the direct sales from distributors”

The second-had car market has existed for 15 years or more.

By: Just like duty on certain foods

Just like duty on certain foods — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 11:54:41 +0000

Government has stated Reduced duty on textiles and shoes however the FCPT has increased so in reality there has been no decrease.

By: Roller Coster

Roller Coster — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 10:47:02 +0000

It’s the PLP roller coaster

By: Of course

Of course — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 10:30:29 +0000

And it’ll continue to drop as long as The PLP are in.

By: Question

Question — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 09:27:51 +0000

Two months with the lowest retail sales for six years, and Furbert blames it all on a hurricane.

By: Ringmaster

Ringmaster — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 09:23:06 +0000

The Minister withheld the numbers so he could “drill down”? The reason is simple – less population. Sales are now less than in 2014 so it’s not spending habits.
Another useless $158,000 spent that could be used to help needy Bermudians.