Susan Gordon, Staff Reporter
Left: Steve Khemlani. Right: Khemlani Mart, downtown Kingston.
STEVE KHEMLANI is investing upwards of $170 million to open two new Khemlani Mart stores in Kingston and Portmore, expanding what he says is an already robust retail chain.
Khemlani already owns a clutch of shops in the family-controlled Manor Centre in the Constant Spring area of St. Andrew, and also has stores in downtown Kingston and Montego Bay.
Now, he has spent $70 million to purchase the 15,000-square foot shop space at Tropical Plaza in Half-Way Tree, where GraceKennedy's Hi-Lo supermarket chain up to late last year maintained a branch of its cut-rate Basix food stores.
STAND ALONE BUILDING
Additionally, says Khemlani, he is spending $100 million on a stand alone building next to the MegaMart store in Portmore. That 25,000-square foot building has been under construction since early 2005.
Both stores are expected to be opened in July, employing between 70 and 80 people. The Tropical Plaza store will stock primarily housewares and furniture, while the one in Portmore will deal in a wider range of products, including clothing.
"Primarily, we are hoping to attract a lot more new clientele and make it more convenient for persons who do not want to drive up to Manor Centre," said Khemlani.
He estimates that up to 20 per cent of his current clientele live in Portmore, a city of nearly 200,000 people just west Kingston, that has grown rapidly over the past 15 years on the back of major government-sponsored housing developments. Its residents are largely educated, middle income professionals.
"I feel when we open in Portmore it will grow very quickly," Khemlani said. "It will create a great deal of excitement and we are going to introduce some very high fashion in Portmore at unbelievably low prices."
He suggested that this would have to be the strategy of any retail operation seeking to securing a place in a highly competitive market.
"Realistically speaking, you have to have brand names at very good prices or a hire purchase programme," said Khemlani.
Consumers, Khemlani said, were coming to accept that the hire purchase agreements were costing them much more, and so were increasingly saving to buy their items for cash. The Khemlani stores, because of their good prices and quality, benefited from this, he suggested.
Good service, location and delivery were also important, said Khemlani, adding that he expected that the two new stores, with their mid-town and Portmore locations, would grow sales substantially this year.
"Once the economy begins to move in the right direction we should be able to add on another 40 per cent on our sales," said Khemlani. He declined to give a dollar value of his company's sales.
