Saturday, September 6 2008

TWO months after a fire destroyed the warehouse of Courts’ Megastore, the furniture giant has reopened a temporary outlet to facilitate their peak season of business which goes up to Christmas.

Mario Guerrero, managing director of Courts Caribbean, said 67 days after the furniture store’s flagship branch burned down on July 1. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Guerrero was speaking at yesterday’s opening of the temporary Megastore, located at the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, El Socorro.

Guerrero said plans are already underway for Courts’ expansion to the United States in October, while a new permanent Megastore will be constructed at the El Socorro site, soon.

“Next month, we will open a new chapter in our history book by opening the first Courts store in Brooklyn, New York. This store will serve the needs of the Caribbean people living in the area,” he said.

He said Courts Caribbean and its parent company Regal Forest Holding Company was committed to continually investing in TT’s physical infrastructure. “We have great plans to rebuild the Megastore. Construction at the adjacent site will begin within the next two months, and being privy to the plans that are emerging, I have no doubt that you will like what we have in mind.”

Errol Le Blanc, managing director of US-based Unicomer Trinidad Ltd – the parent company for Courts Caribbean – said the administrative offices and the service department which were housed at the El Socorro location will be relocated to the branches at Santa Rosa in Arima and Chaguanas.

He said staff worked swiftly to re-open the Megastore, just in time for the Christmas season. Le Blanc did not say how much it cost to refurbish the Megastore, only that it amounted to millions of dollars, since it included losses in stock and infrastructure.

He also said the new store will cost several million dollars to reconstruct. According to Le Blanc all 70 employees, who were relocated to other branches while renovations were being done, will return to the El Socorro flagship store.

Guerrero said Courts Caribbean employed more than 3,100 people in the region and operated 102 stores in 12 English-speaking Caribbean countries, 25 of which are located in TT.

Jamaica is the furniture giant’s biggest market, followed closely by TT. The Megastore’s re-launch also included a ribbon cutting ceremony and a donation of $1000 to Pundit Achrya Karmananda for the Divine Life Society.