Durban — With two weeks left before KwaZulu-Natal schools open for the new year, parents were out and about on Tuesday, getting uniforms and stationery ahead of the last-minute rush that plays out closer to opening day.
Gem Schoolwear in Overport was abuzz with little ones and their parents shopping.
Store manager Mohammed Patel said parents had started purchasing uniforms from the end of November and there had been a build-up through December.
“Now it’s the final rush before schools open, we actually even opened up on the public holiday on Monday, and we have been busy – even now it’s crazy busy,” he said on Tuesday.
Patel said since Covid-19, they had opened an online store to cater to all their customers and that has been going “very well”.
Gem Schoolwear in the Durban CBD said that the online store has been increasing in items sold over time.
“We are seeing more customers wanting to purchase online, it saves them time as opposed to coming into the store physically.
“We offer an incentive of free delivery to the customer’s door if the purchase is over R1 000,” said store manager Muhammed Pandor.
Over the years around this time and closer to schools’ opening snaking queues outside the store have been a common sight. Pandor said that they had extra hands on deck to deal with the rush.
“It’s been busy, but we have employed about 100 back-to-school part-time staff to assist with the rush and so the queues are not that long yet.
“So we have seen small queues at the time we open and at lunchtime, but otherwise, the queues have been steadily flowing so far,” he said.
Pandor said they have advised customers to try to get their uniform shopping done as early as possible to avoid the “mad rush” in the last week before the schools open
“They would rather come now and get what they want.”
Pandor said they have been busy since December, which was a good sign.
“This shows that parents are saving for school uniforms and deciding to purchase these early instead of leaving it for the last minute.”
Alert Stationers in the Durban CBD had noted the same pattern, where purchases had already begun in December.
“Before Christmas, there was a decent rush, I think that people have prioritised stationery and school over their luxuries,” said store manager Pranesh Behari.
The store, which offers the service of having its staff source the stationery from its aisles while customers wait, said on Tuesday the store was busy.
“What we saw pre-Christmas, we have seen those sales in one day, so parents are getting in early because of the constraints of stock as well.
“There is a huge constraint of stock, people just want to be safe and get stationery buying out of the way,” said Behari.
He said that customers were also making use of their online service, where stationery could be picked up or delivered to their home.
“While I can’t specifically put a finger on it, customers were equally making use of online services and coming into the store physically.”
Daily News
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