Shop Now Belize is Retail to Suit the Financially Challenged
In better days, Belizeans were encouraged to shop ‘til we drop and conspicuous consumption was the order of the day. But gone are the weekend trips to Chetumal just to purchase laundry detergent and groceries. With the financial crunch that the country is facing, many have turned to buying less or smaller different quantities than usual. One enterprising businesswoman today opened her new venture called Shop Now Belize that specializes in smaller, even tiny, amounts of goods at affordable prices.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
The economic downturn that came with COVID-19 last year has prompted a few business owners to seriously consider the unfortunate condition of customers facing financial hardships. Some shoppers whose pockets have been hit considerably can no longer afford to purchase basic grocery items in certain quantities. To make life a little easier, Shop Now Belize, a small business owned by Adette Tillett, is taking retail a step further.
Adette Tillett
Adette Tillett, Owner, Shop Now Belize
“What we’re doing today is to introduce our refilling station that allows our customers to bring us their used containers and we will refill those containers for them. We are able to refill for your hand soap, dishwashing liquid, cleaners, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, bleach, oil. In dry goods, we’re able to refill for you cornflakes, pastas, we also have powdered laundry detergent and we also have added the Ramen pockets, as well as the instant cups and toilet papers.”
The idea, according to Tillett, comes from seeing the impact of the pandemic on our local economy at the individual level. Belizeans simply cannot afford essential items that were reasonably priced a year ago.
Adette Tillett
“Things have slowed down significantly within the economy and as small business owners we are trying to survive and for us to be able to do that we have to be creative. And so, the idea was to diversify from what we were doing, but diversify in sucj a way that we are offering Belizeans products that would save them some money, considering the situation that we are in, and so the refilling station allowed us to be able to do that. We’re hoping that we have brought in different products to be able to cater to persons of all different types of budgets because what we are trying to do here is [that] you’re able to buy what you can afford in any given point. We’ve started from the lowest level that you can go, all the way to a gallon. So if you bring us your container and the content on there is telling you that this container can hold milliliters or milligrams of items, we’re able to sell you the number of milligrams that you need. We’re able to sell you the fluid ounce that that container can hold. We’re also able to sell you the liters that that container can hold. So whatever content that you have on that container that you are bringing in to us, we are able to refill it.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
