Late shoppers have back to school retailers at wits' end

As the first day of school looms on 13 January, parents are rushing to finish their last minute stationery and uniform shopping. Queues at various stationery stores such as Waltons, Denu Stationers, PNA, Windhoek Stationers and many more have become longer as 13 January moves closer.



Some stores, such as Waltons, have tried to combat this stream of customers by offering pre-packed stationery boxes to meet certain schools' exact requirements. These boxes have simplified the lives of parents that have to wrestle with long supply lists.



Employees from Walton's larger are managing a near-constant stream of customers and in order to keep efficiency in the store they take the stationery list from parents and compile it for later pick up.



School uniforms

School uniform stores are no less hectic. Ibrahim Patel, co-owner of Boundaries; school uniform store, said "It is so busy that being on the phone can cause problems" in a telephonic interview.

Despite the challenges, it’s a profitable season, though not without its struggles.



Anka Hendricks, a parent of young school learners, stated that she struggles to find her children's school uniform since they wear yellow school shirts, which are not as commonly available as other colours. This means that back to school can turn into a long endeavour that requires visiting multiple shops.



Many retail workers have noted that this spree of late shopping is nothing new - in fact it is a yearly occurrence that companies have to plan for to ensure that business flows smoothly.