RAPHAEL JOHN_LALL
Local household goods chain Excellent Stores intends to expand by setting up a new branch in Tobago at a projected cost of $50 million, said Franco Siu Chong, managing director of Excellence Stores.
"We are not in Tobago at this time and the culture there is different. The population is 60,000. I believe our branch there will be successful as our Tobago customers have been clamouring over the years for Excellent Stores. We will have a one-price policy: the price in Trinidad will be the same price in Tobago. A business cannot say it is a T&T store and have no store in Tobago," he told the Business Guardian last Thursday.
He said the company purchased 2.5 acres this year on Auchenskeoch Road in Tobago on which they will soon begin construction.
It will be mall-style building with shopping and entertainment, he added.
"We have the concept now and I am getting tenants; we expect to have 16 to 20 tenants. It is not going to be your typical mall. Tobagonians are looking for somewhere to go besides the beach. We are looking at launching in early 2016."
Siu Chong is confident that with T&T's economy rebounding, there will a market for increased consumption.
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