I’ve been to Spanish Town lots of times but have never been grocery shopping there. I learned one BIG lesson on a day trip there!
A fellow Canadian friend of mine came down to Jamaica while I was living there and road tripping and Spanish Town was on her list. This was the day her and I went to see the Rodney Memorial buildings in the center of Spanish Town. After our sightseeing we also wanted to have some refreshments and do a little grocery shopping for our dinner back in Ocho Rios later in the evening. We decided it would be smarter if we shopped in Spanish Town because it would already be dark and we’d be hungry by the time we got back to Ochi.
Our first stop was a bar attached to a house that belonged to a friend of ours. One of the things I love most about Jamaica is where else can you have a bar attached to your house? Seriously, how convenient is that! These people never have to leave home because they have a house, a bar AND a giant garden with everything growing in it at the back of the house. Loved it! Another awesome feature of this bar was a spotless bathroom with running water in the sink AND complete with toilet paper LOL!
So we sat in the bar and shared a flask of rum and made a list of the things we’d need to buy for dinner. On the menu for that night was stew chicken and basically we needed everything right down to seasonings because my kitchen at home was bare. So we asked our friend where we could pick up our groceries before going home and wouldn’t you know it he said there’s a wholesale right on the same street as him so we should go there. I’m telling you guys this shopping experience was every emotion you could imagine all balled up into one.
Now if I’d known a wholesale place could look like this one did I would have spotted it directly across the street from the bar but I never expected it to be just an old shipping container with a cage on the front that had everything you could ever want inside it! We walked up to the cage at the front with our little list of supplies and waited our turn.
You can’t really see it that well in the picture because it was kind of awkward to take pictures there. But anyways as I was standing in the line I had to endure lots of people budging in front of me with their requests too. They almost looked at me like “what do you want?” and pushed past me so I got more aggressive and made my way to the front of the cage where a lady inside opened a slot and took my list. I was a little paranoid though because my list was in my Blackberry and she just asked for the phone LOL. I reluctantly passed my Blackberry through the cage and imagined her running out a secret exit in the back and taking off with it.
This was the slowest process I’d ever encountered (next to shopping at Bashco) for shopping and the lady kept coming back to the front of the cage to clarify some of the things on the list. If I had to shop this way every day I think I’d kill myself.
I did get a total kick out of it though, it’s so simple. People would come there and ask for like one razor or two rolling papers. After about fifteen minutes of impatiently waiting and enduring the stares of other shoppers, the lady came back to the front with my bags of goods and my Blackberry. Then she asked me for $595 jmd. I almost fell over and thought she made a mistake so I looked in all the bags to make sure she got everything. $595 included two pounds of chicken!!! I just paid $7.00 for two pounds of chicken, a bag of rice, butter, seasonings and if I’m not mistaken I’m quite sure there may have been a flask of Appleton in there too. All this would have cost me AT LEAST $1500 in Ocho Rios!
I came to the conclusion that I should shop in Spanish Town all the time! The frustration was definitely worth saving 50%. The tourist areas have got nothing on REAL Jamaica! But if you like spending money that’s your thing I guess LOL. I admit that even after all my years of Jamaica I had never experienced a wholesale of this nature and I would totally do it again!
Comments
17 responses to “Spanish Town Wholesale”
love this post! we have one like that where I live but I won’t go in there because its a free-for-all and I’d still be there the next day!
The supermarket I go to is just as good and when I get to the check out THEY ask ME the prices!! Love it!
LOL Janet! Yah this place was kind of a free for all too, it was frustrating but well worth it in the end.
So how do you find a place where they ask YOU??
Hi JC, great article. but I couldn’t get passed the toilet paper in the bathroom.. lol, what a great find!!! I usually travel with tissues and wipes! I also had to laugh about the people pushing their way ahead of you. I had a similar experience at Amnesia in Ochie. A girl tried to push pass me in the bathroom. I stood my ground and kept thinking to my self ” oh please don’t let her pull an icepick on me” Luckily she backed down. Shopping in Ja has always been an experience. Have you ever tried the big super stores? I can’t think of the name.. Price Mart??? There is one in Town and in MoBay near Bogue. If you are stocking up these are the places to go. Keep your stories coming!!!! Joy
It’s Mega Mart….and yes I’ve been there. It’s awesome and I did a blog post on it if want to read it here http://www.jamaicamyway.com/montego-bay/mega-mart-in-jamaica/
Hi JC, I forgot you posted about it previously.. so where will your blog take us next???? Don’t keep us guessing?!! Joy
Who knows!! Maybe straight to my back yard for the chicken killing!
good things come to those who wait!LOL,keep up the good vibes JC,ONE LOVE
they have a walworths in spanish town plaza our stores in uk were spelt woolworths and closed down years ago, I found it amusing the way the store name was spelt and it is a bit like our woolworth stores over here, I love shopping in spanishtown and yeah I got the stares too but never had anyone push past me mind you my husband always looks after me when I go visit him, have you tried shopping in kingston yet JC?
now that is another experience
Nah I spend as little time as possible in Kingston. I’m from a big city so I don’t really like hanging in the big city while in Jamaica lol.
I would have loved to have been there. One question…..how did you get to be the lucky one to get the food while your friend got to stand outside and sneak a pic? LOL
What do you do when people stare at you like that? Do you ever get nervous that people will try to take what you bought from you when you are leaving the store? I am only asking because when I was in Ochi, my boyfriends family (I met them there on my stop to the island during a cruise) kept stopping me while we were walking down the street and pushing any little bit of anything (plastic bad, diaper bag strap, etc) back tightly underneath the stroller (I had our son with me) if it bounced out. They were so paranoid that someone would walk up behind us and snatch it. They were making me feel like I was walking on egg shells. I found it hard to enjoy myself. They made me feel like everyone was out to get me or something! LOL.
LOL I’m always the one doing the dirty work! Although she would have been in there too if there wasnt’ such a crowd at the entrance.
I’m never worried about people stealing my groceries LOL. Although the one thing random Jamaicans ALWAYS do to me is come up to me and say “zip your purse”. I have a little bag with lots of zipper compartments and one or two are usually open, it’s nice that they take the time to caution me about it.
The local Jamaican equivalent of Costco is PriceSmart and is located on Red Hills Road in Kingston. It is part of the Costco corporation, but your Costco card does not work. it costs $3500 JA for a year membership. but it is worth it if you want to stock up on staples or buy a big tv or something.
Hey Eric thanks for that info! I’m still learning new things every day!
I’ve just re-read this blog and it brought back some wonderful memories especially the “waiting in line” part…..lol…..you don’t! Pushing in is a way of life in Jamaica although I used to tell them off if they jumped the queue at the Cash Pot!…I learned the hard way about shopping at a wholesalers and earned my stripes magnificently….
LOL Janet I used to have to get a little crazy in the bill payment line at Petcom too. Trying to pay my JPS was an all-day affair until I started asserting myself..
hi dont no if u can be of any help to me i am looking for some chinese wholesalers or a wholesale place that sells clothing vest boxers,panties,socks,blouses,shirts etc and also can ship thanking uin advance
Hi MamaJ, sorry I don’t know of any!