DOWNTOWN KINGSTON: Christmas’ beautiful symphony
In the first edition of our downtown shopping feature, we explored the allure of downtown, the ambience, its nuances and complexity during the Christmas shopping period. In addition, we provided helpful tips for those of you who were oblivious to its quirks and needed a guide in manoeuvring your way through all things downtown.
We also gave advice as to the type of shoes to wear; the bags to carry and the importance of going early, but with just four days left before Christmas, crunch time is drawing closer and you have to find those gifts.
I’ve always been curious about downtown’s history and knowing what each street represents. Exploring the commerce of each area and the identity it has developed over the years can be helpful knowledge before one ventures to Parade.
Downtown Kingston is an eclectic commercial districts that carries with it a deep history, and today it is considered to be a thriving commercial district. However, the downtown Kingston of the 1920s could be likened to a miniature New York, hip and trendy Caribbean metropolitan area. Now although still trendy and classic, many would consider it similar to Cambodia’s Phnom Penh, exquisite and refined in its core but rough around the edges.
The edges, however, can be a thrill in and of themselves. Downtown’s growth has evolved to a culture of survival. And at its core brought trade to the streets in its purest form.
PARADE
Parade is the hub of downtown and what many consider the starting point for your downtown shopping experience. Historically, south of parade was more of the commercial area and concentrated in business conducted by merchants, and today it remains relatively the same. But North Parade had haberdasheries, taverns and bars. During the 1940s, a generation was emerging where the offspring of Chinese immigrants and indentured East Indian workers from the late 19th century began to run the businesses. West Parade leads to the widely known Coronation Market and is popular for streets like Luke Lane. This timeless road has always been one filled with commerce since the 1920s and was renowned for taverns and bars. Princess Street was and still is the hub of all commercial activity, still famous for all the more popular haberdasheries and Chinese-owned wholesale stores. A classic store that a few Jamaicans over a particular age may remember would be Elite Haberdashery. West Parade is also home to Pechon Street. This area still remains the same, with little changed as it relates to function but it still