SOME lucky shoppers yesterday snapped up food at discounted prices at the Coronation Market in downtown Kingston, as scores of vendors who had fled the facility during the recent civil unrest in West Kingston returned.

But most vendors complained that business was "very slow".

"Business is slow, slow," said one vendor, who declined to give her name. A number of other vendors echoed similar sentiments during a tour of the market.

The vendors told the Sunday Observer that even though "a lot of persons" had visited the market earlier in the day, sales remained low. In fact, a few vendors said they were forced to discount the prices of their goods in a bid to attract more customers.

When the Sunday Observer visited the market at 3:30 pm yesterday, stalls and handcarts were still stocked with vegetables and ground provisions, and shoppers kept coming.

"Come, a sale!" one vendor shouted to potential shoppers.

"Yu nuh have no money? You can get trust (credit)," added the vendor, who later said her name was Kerry-Ann. She also complained that shoppers were "barely buying", forcing her to reduce the prices "of everything" on her stall.

Paul Douglas, a yam vendor from Trelawny, who was shouting, "$20 a pound yam!" said that although he had dropped the price from $30, sales were still very slow.

"Right now me still owe the man for the yam, whey me buy for $40 a pound. Look deh, mi still have nuff left whey no sell yet," he said, pointing to several bags of yam that were still unpacked.

The story was the same for Debraly Coleman, who said she lost goods valued at close to $300,000 after thieves raided her shop during the recent gun battle between law enforcers and criminals. But Coleman, who managed to repurchase some goods in time for the weekend, said, "Business is very slow; it is not back to normal as yet. A lot of sellers deh here, but the buyers are not buying."

"Papaya and peppers are not selling, mi still have two bags of papaya. Things are really slow," she reiterated, pointing at her stall, where she sat with her young son, Jaydene.

But while the vendors complained, most shoppers appeared quite happy with the discounted prices.

"Things are very cheap today. It's the most reasonable prices I've seen in a while," one shopper told the Sunday Observer.