Walker and a collegue

Mainland Inter-national has opened its fifth store on Hagley Road, Kingston, almost a year after its initial plan to start doing business there, representing a US$2 million investment for the hardware company.

Mainland is leasing the 25,000 square foot property which formerly housed Basix supermarket, a GraceKennedy brand.

The hardware company is leasing the property from owner Mitchells' Auto Parts. The location, though not as expansive as its Spanish Town, St. Catherine operations, will have a complete hardware department retailing cement as well as household and gardening supplies.

It will employ 40 persons.

Senior vice-president at mainland International, Garth Walker, told the Financial Gleaner he expected to recoup on that investment in under two years.

Mainland now operates in four parishes, but Walker was unwilling to comment how much the company had invested in Jamaica, saying that it would make that announcement when it opens its 50,000 tonne capacity cement grinding and bagging plant, on which it plans to break ground in St. Catherine this year.

The plant is estimated as a six-eight-month project.

The new Mainland store was funded, said Walker, from company revenues.

"The shortage of cement impeded the process of opening the store on time," said Walker.

"We are now in a better position than we were in previous months because we have imported a million bags of cement and have fully stocked all our stores including this new one."

Walker said he expected the Hagley Park store to generate good business.

The Basix supermarket, however, did not perform well at the location, with former chief executive officer of GraceKennedy's retail division, John Mahfood, saying its location was not ideal, requiring more than an hour's driving for its customers.

Walker, however, believes the new Portmore toll highway will make a difference.

Commercial buyers

"That has changed now, there's a highway. The difference with a supermarket is that it needs to be in an area fully surrounded by residential dwellings, but this area is a mix of commercial activities and residential," he said.

Walker said based on sales from other stores, commercial buyers represented 60 per cent of the hardware store's business, while the rest flowed from homeowners.

The Mainland chain comprises stores in Stony Hill, St. Andrew; Mandeville, Manchester; MoBay, St. James; and its flagship store in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. The company employs a total of 400 persons.

susan.smith@gleanerjm.com