FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Creatives at the soon-to-be officially opened Falmouth Artisan Village are expecting brisk sales and extensive promotion of their products at the facility which is strategically located next to the cruise shipping port.

Members of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and other sector stakeholders got a feel of what is to come as they met with artisans operating 36 of the 48 shops during a walk through of the facility on Wednesday for a “trial run” of operations.

Trelawny-based operator of First Straw, Lorna Christie, is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase her hand-woven products, made from hook wist shrub, to visitors and locals when the facility is finally officially open.

“I am happy to see that things are moving because we have had some hitches and glitches and quite a few setbacks, but it seems as if we are on our way now. I am hopeful. I know that business will not be as how we want it to be in the beginning, but overtime I see there is great potential,” Christie told the Jamaica Observer.

“Hats off to TEF for giving us the opportunity to not only showcase our products but give us the hope for expansion in our businesses. I think it’s a great look; it’s a great feeling and we are looking to greater times ahead with our business,” she added.

First Straw owner, Omar Daley, whose products are hand-woven from palm material and also feature wicker and leather, was equally enthused about being given the opportunity to operate at the facility.

“What I am looking for at this facility is to open relationships with more customers. The door is now open for us local artisans who were not able to talk back and forth with the customers to have the idea of how they feel about the product. That will help us, in a sense, to create better products, even to fulfil the need of the customer and know what they want and what we need to do differently and what we can tweak with what we are doing,” Daley said.

“I have high hopes. This is one of the first facilities in the country. It is a village, and based on how it is set up it is not a craft market where you are going to find every shop with the same items. Each is unique, each shop has its own story,” he added.

Representatives of the Trench Town Art Centre are still revelling in the opportunity to showcase their products — mainly made from clay — at the Trelawny facility.

“When I got a call from [Director of the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovative/Craft Development Institute (JCTI/CDI)], Carol Rose Brown, wow! It was a day that went into the night. I couldn’t sleep, I was overwhelmed that they chose Trench Town to be on the pier,” said Garfield Williams, the most outspoken member of the group.

He is confident that the additional exposure augurs well for business.

“Today is just the start of the race because we have the finish line; but this just the start. We were able to come today and showcase some of the product. Mind you, we do have options for sale but today is mostly presentation to representatives from the stakeholders,” he said on Wednesday.

“I think we will do very, very well here. We have the products that tourists like to take back to wherever they are coming from. The colours are all Jamaican, the rustic look. And all of our products… as a tourist you can identify the culture and the uniqueness of our personalities if you directly look at some of the pieces,” he added.

Dr Carey Wallace, executive director of TEF, described Wednesday’s trial run as a success.

“Going through the phases I think it is an important step that we had to take to showcase and do like a beta testing of the operation here. As a service offering we won’t get a second chance to make a first impression with the customers and so you have to do a lot of trials and testing to get the product right. Today was a chance for us to get stakeholders to come here to do some testing. To see the entertainment, to go through some of the shops, to talk to some of the shopkeepers, and so on, to see the layout, and so they would get a good idea what the attraction will be. And so from that standpoint I think that was a success. So we are just looking to see further tweaks to get it perfect when we do have the opening in a couple weeks’ time,” Wallace said.

Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor C Junior Gager also expressed optimism that operations at the facility will benefit the local and national economy.

“I am really more than happy that this is coming to fruition. I believe it will have a lasting effect. I am overjoyed and I can’t wait for the reality to kick in,” Gager said.

According to the JCTI’s Brown, the artisan village is themed to tell the story of Falmouth and offer Jamaicans and visitors an opportunity to share local food, drink, art, craft, and culture. The JCTI was instrumental in the establishment of the village, which is situated at the former Hampden Wharf.

Falmouth Artisan Village is the first of its kind in Jamaica and forms part of the US$5.7-million Hampden Wharf Development Project being funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund.