By McPherse Thompson, Asst. Financial News Editor 
John Hildebrandt (left), executive vice-president of PriceSmart, and Charlie Hyde (second left), country manager for Jamaica, taking media personnel on a tour yesterday of PriceSmart Jamaica's complex at 111 Red Hills Road, Kingston, ahead of the store's month-end opening. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
PRICESMART INC., the United States volume-driven merchandise and services provider, has invested some US$10 million in a membership club warehouse store at 111 Red Hills Road, Kingston, which is expected to open its doors to the public on March 28.
Already boasting some 8,000 cardholders in the first month of a membership drive launched ahead of the opening, PriceSmart is anticipating that the figure will increase to 15,000 by month-end.
The membership-only store is planning to employ from 140 to 150 people, 90 per cent of whom have already been recruited, most of them from the Red Hills Road area, according to Charlie Hyde, the company's country manager for Jamaica.
"It is a deliberate effort to employ people from the area," said Mr. Hyde, who was answering questions during a media tour of the complex yesterday. He said 99 per cent of the labour force at the store would be locally hired.
John Hildebrandt, PriceSmart executive vice-president for the region, said that about 30 per cent of the products to be sold in the store, such as fish and meats, would be sourced locally, and the remainder would be imported from the United States.
Mr. Hildebrandt said Jamaica was chosen as a location for PriceSmart because, among other advantages, the business environment was conducive, it was an ideal location, and studies had shown that Jamaicans have a high appetite for things American.
Members will be able to chose from some 2,800 different items including electronics, office supplies, houseware, hardware, home and gardening supplies, a full line of dry groceries, deli items, meats, fish, vegetables, other fresh and frozen foods, beverages, clothes, tools, health and beauty aids, sporting goods, toys, school and even auto supplies.
The store has already started stocking up on supplies for the month-end opening.
Mr. Hildebrandt said Price-Smart would also house a pharmacy, bakery, delicatessen, as well as barbecue rotisseries that will be able to do jerk chicken, for instance. The store has been constructed with disability-friendly facilities and equipped with motorised shopping carts specifically for use by disabled persons.
A special feature will be a "weigh and save" facility that will allow consumers to get small or large quantities of products such as rice, flour, detergents, among others, in bulk form and at discounted prices. Mr. Hyde said that concept was relatively unique and was not even available in the United States. However, he said, consumers would be able to save because the cost of packaging that often times drove costs up would be eliminated when those commodities were sold in bulk.
"The success of this concept in countries where we have rolled out have been successful," he said.
PriceSmart's warehouse shopping concept is modelled on Price Club, the first warehouse merchandising chain in the United States. The concept is to deliver significant value to its member-customers, through an effective and efficient pipeline that leverages economies of scale in aggressive buying, low-cost distribution and streamlined operations.
The company says it maintains low prices by purchasing products in large quantities directly from manufacturers, shipping them directly to its warehouses and therefore pass on those benefits to its customers.
