By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

An auto parts supplier yesterday said “the crazy volume” of customers that initially lined up outside his store should be reduced now it can re-open for a full five days per week.

Dwayne Higgs, WHIM Automotive’s general manager, told Tribune Business: “It’s a little slow today. I think things are going to spread out, and people are going to go to the places where they haven’t been able to go for a while.

“With the weather, it’s probably going to keep some people inside for now. But we anticipate just a steady flow, not the crazy volume of people we had before. I am anticipating just a steady flow since people can come Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.”

Me Higgs added: “I’m thinking we had that rush because we were closed for five to six weeks initially, and we could only open on Tuesday, so we had those huge, long lines. I think it’s going to be more spread out now, and just a steady flow. But if it is busy, then great, I will take it. But with everywhere else open now, people are going to go to the laundromat. Some people are going to go there and other places for hurricane shopping and the like.”

The WHIM Automotive chief said “nobody was outside waiting”, with any line having gone by 8.30am. He suggested that the rain may have been a factor, or that persons were running low on money due to the continued tourism shutdown and closure of many other industries. However, Mr Higgs said the government’s monthly payday could provide “a shot in the arm” to boost sales.

Asked if he expects to sustain high sales moving into June, Mr Higgs replied he was “hopeful, but the reality is there is only so much money circulating in the country and people are going to take care of their needs first. I’m sure people are going to eat before they drive, but you can’t go to the food store without your vehicle”.

Suggesting that auto parts “always should have been classified as an essential service, and we should have been opened straight through”, Mr Higgs said: “My suppliers in the States were very surprised that we were closed because in the US, automotive is essential. They didn’t close down at all. I’m not looking backwards, I’m looking forward ,and we’ve got some big things coming here at WHIM over the next two months.

“I’m tired of the masks and all of that, but we have to follow the sanitary guidelines, and we still have people coming in eight or ten at a time. We have the markers on the floor so people know where to stand. They sanitise their hands at the entrance and the exit, and we have the markers outside as well. We’re still doing all of this. I don’t want to do this, but it’s what we have to do for right now to make sure we stay safe.

“I have a janitress that works full-time anyway, so I told her that her job is to now focus on making sure everything is wiped down. We have the automatic hands-free hand sanitiser at the entrance and exit. We bought a couple of gallons of that, and that is very conservative with what it gives you, so that is going to last us for quite a while.”