The Loshusan Supermarket in Barbican square.
-Ian Allen photo
Susan Smith, Staff Reporter
OWNER OF the John R. Wong Supermarket in New Kingston, Kenneth Loshusan, will open the Loshusan supermarket and shopping complex in Barbican later this month.
The supermarket is located at 29 East Kings House Road in St. Andrew and is owned by Mr. Loshusan, who is also a part owner of the Progressive Grocers supermarket group. He started developing the project four years ago. The construction is in its final stages and should be completed for Christmas, Bruce Loshusan, a director of the supermarket and son of Mr. Loshusan told Wednesday Business. He said, "This is hopefully our last week of heavy activities in order to complete it by Christmas."
Wednesday Business saw employees already stocking the store with grocery items. Although the complex revolves around the supermarket, it also contains nine other shops and has an extensive parking facility on the four acres of land. The owners withheld the actual cost of establishing the business but according to Bruce Loshusan, "It costs more than was expected." The nine shops on the complex will include; a travel agency, a DVD rental store, a Haagan Dazs ice cream outlet, a toy store, a party supplies store, a Digicel outlet, a dry cleaners, a pharmacy and a medical centre below the pharmacy. These shops will be leased by the owner but operated by First Capital Corporation explained Peter Vanderleer, manager for the Loshusan supermarket.
All the shops are already rented. Mr. Vanderleer said Supreme Ventures Limited has future plans to set up a restaurant on a part of the roof of the complex once it is completed and fully operational.
More than 60 persons are expected to be employed by
the supermarket alone. Mr. Vanderleer said, "We may have a few more shops on the complex for next year."
AN ADVANTAGE
The Barbican area seems to have an adequate count of supermarkets, but Mr. Vanderleer said his store will have an advantage because, "the parking facilities are good, there is an availability of other stores and the opening hours will be from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m." He said the complex started out with a store plan and then everything else was built around this.
The size and location of the Loshusan supermarket gave Mr. Kenneth Loshusan the flexibility he never had in the rented space by the John R. Wong supermarket to incorporate his retail ideas, Mr. Vanderleer said. Mr. Loshusan owns other properties islandwide and intends to expand his business in the not so distant future Mr. Vanderleer revealed. "Looking at the growth of the areas where the properties are located, there are good prospects." The Loshusan brothers started the grocery business in downtown Kingston during the 1960s before closing down their Ocean and Sovereign supermarkets, moving the latter operation to Manor Park and Liguanea in St. Andrew during the 1990s.
