Business no longer using coin

A CITY BUSINESS got a jump on the Central Bank of Barbados by several months in terms of its use of cents.
Well before the May 7 target to phase out cents kicks in, the six branches of BGI Beauty Inc. had already put systems in place where they would have to do very few transactions requiring cents.
“We don’t use them anymore. All our prices that ended in 99 cents changed months ago,” managing director Mohammad Jaouni told the WEEKEND NATION.
The man who specialises in hair care products said they were having difficulty getting cents from the banks for their registers.
“We would go to the bank and they would say they don’t have. Sometimes you get $50, sometimes $30 so we got tired and changed all our prices,” he said.
The BGI stores were also ahead with the rounding off system.
He said that in most cases one cent was added to the original price to round it off to the nearest dollar and in a few instances cents were taken off.
Although things are running smoother without the hassle of going to the bank and not getting the required number of cents, Jaouni said the adjustment cost them quite a bit.
They were forced to purchase new price tags that were manufactured in the United States. Shoppers have noticed that in several instances items in the BGI stores have the new price strip stuck over the old one.
“Look at this, this cost us a lot. We order out of the United States and it is a lot of money. And we have six stores to supply,” Jaouni said. (YB)