“June and July are the busiest months,” says Pierre Repinz, the co-owner of the Graham Hotel and liquor store.
“June and July are the busiest months,” says Pierre Repinz, the co-owner of the Graham Hotel and liquor store.
This is in contrast to the general perception that the months of August and September are considered the biggest party season in Grahamstown.
It seems that the busiest months are not when the students are in town. Both Alan Hart, owner of The Vineyard Liquor Store, and Hannes Loots, owner of Buddy’s Liquor Store, agreed with Repinz that June and July are the best time for business.
This is due to Grahamstown hosting the National Arts Festival over that period. Hart also mentions that Christmas and New Year’s Eve is a good time for The Vineyard as “people are bulk buying” for the festive season.
Repinz states that “in general third term is busy,” as some people think of “third term as a party term.” According to Hart, “term time looks busy with the students,” but went on to say that “students only buy one (item of alcohol) at a time. Friday is the busiest day, as Friday afternoon is big for students.”
Hart says that The Vineyard experiences good sales at the end of the month as locals tend to buy their alcohol “in baskets”.
Repinz says they have seen a visible increase in sales already and that there is a “steady rise, which continues till the end of term”.
Hart says that from a business point of view, “the term is looking good.” Hart went on to mention that there was no real “spike in sales”, something that Loots agreed with.
Loots does not view the months of August and September as months that lead to a massive increases in sales.
According to Repinz the Graham Hotel and Liquor Store are more function orientated than just over the counter sales.
“There are lots of 21st parties. We’ve had three in row. Clubs and societies at Rhodes are having functions now, so we stock up for those,” he said.
“We do take in extra stock, but gauge it week-by-week, so we do not over extend ourselves,” he says. Both Hart and Loots also say that everything is done on a weekly basis.
Although third term is deemed as the party term, the local liquor stores do not stock up for the months of August and September. Everything is done on a weekly basis and in accordance to last year’s figures.
