MONTEGO BAY, St James — The extended Christmas Grand Market activities in this northern parish are estimated to have seen vendors pulling in almost $400 million in sales so far, in what mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon described as a resounding success.

Last year, in the lead-up to Christmas, Vernon announced the early start of Grand Market from December 15 rather than the day before Christmas Eve, as has been the case over the years.

This was designed to assist vendors — especially those affected by the October 28 Hurricane Melissa — to try to rebound. And, according to Vernon, it worked.

“Using a conservative average daily sales estimate of $35,000 per vendor, the full vendor population generated an estimated $13.86 million per day and roughly $388 million over the 28-day period,” Vernon told the monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

According to the mayor, the extended Grand Market, which will end on Sunday instead of the initial end date of December 31, emerged as a concentrated economic plus for Montego Bay’s micro entrepreneurs in the wake of the Category 5 storm given what transpired in terms of the loss of goods, damaged stalls, lost income and, in some cases, loss of homes for the vendors.

“The market converted foot traffic into rapid liquidity, helped many vendors restore working capital, and funnelled substantial cash through local businesses and households,” said Vernon.

He argued that the extended grand market was necessary given the impact of the storm on the livelihoods of many people who are members of the micro-economy in the parish — and they are seeing the results.

“Sixty per cent of surveyed vendors reported that the market helped them to bounce back either fully or somewhat, and 67 per cent said their income was higher compared with previous periods,” said Vernon.

He also highlighted the beneficial value of the Grand Market to one subset of the population for whom this type of commerce is vital.

“The gendered composition of the vendor population is a notable distributional outcome. With two thirds of respondents female, the market’s cash flows disproportionately supported female-headed households and microenterprises, likely amplifying effects on household welfare, school spending, and local consumption patterns where women’s earnings are often directly channelled,” said Vernon as he added that this has widened into benefits for the greater Montego Bay business district and the parish as a whole.

“It translated into purchases at supermarkets and hardware stores, payments for services such as hair and beauty, and household spending on essentials and school supplies, producing a visible multiplier effect across Montego Bay’s local economy,” declared Vernon.

He said returns to vendors, who are mainly women, have shown them to be already eager to return for the next iteration of the event which is slated to be repeated this year in the lead-up to Christmas.

“The extended Grand Market acted as a rapid, high-impact economic intervention for Montego Bay. It injected substantial cash, accelerated recovery for many affected vendors, and concentrated benefits in time and among specific vendor groups,” said Vernon.

Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon describing the positives of the extended Grand Market in Montego Bay during Thursday’s meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation.

One of the many stalls offering a variety of items at the Montego Bay Grand Market.