While store shelves across Barbados are currently overflowing with teddy bears and customizable gift sets for the ‘month of love,’ the focus shifted abruptly in the early hours of February 12th.
Following the conclusion of the 2026 General Election, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley declared Friday the 13th a national bank holiday which was a move that sent last-minute Valentine’s shoppers and local vendors into a scramble.
For local businesses like Nikko’s Creations and Souluxe Delights, the snap holiday was a bundle of obstacles and an advantage for others like The Grand Bakehouse.
Owner of Nikko’s Creations flower shop, Suzie Arthur expressed that there should have been more consideration for businesses.
“Rather than just focus on elections, they should have thought about businesses and the impact it would have on such short notice. It was just not a great decision to make today a bank holiday being that tomorrow is valentines day,” she stated.
For Shiair Tull, 19 year old owner of Souluxe Delights, who specialises in cakes and cupcakes, the snap-holiday didn’t affect the flow operations but due to supermarkets being closed, it was stressful.”
“It affected me because any last minute stuff I needed to get for my orders, I couldn’t get due to most places being closed and that made me quite upset and stressed. However, there were no issues with pick-up orders and no customers had anything to be worried about,” he said.
The pressures of the snap-holiday was no match for business owner Ania of The Grand Bakehouse, where she specialises in cheesecakes, cookies and other baked goods.The holiday worked out to her advantage.
“I handle pressure well so the only thing that probably interfered was the fact that I had to rush and get my products yesterday, rather than today which was the originally scheduled day to get them, and that was hectic due to rush and traffic etc. I would say it worked out in my favor causing me to prep a little earlier and that helped with my load today. I normally would’ve been extremely busy Valentine’s eve but due to the holiday most of my load was already done,” she expressed.
While the ‘snap holiday’ brought unexpected stress for some and a head start for others, the island’s business community remains open for love, even if they had to pivot their way through a Friday the 13th to get there.
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Written by: Jamoon Hurley
