The new ACE Megastore
The steel framework for Ace’s newest venture on St.Maarten, the ACE Megacenter, is clearly visible to the Cole Bay residents as well to all those who pass along the construction site on Union Road, "The building is scheduled to be completed the last quarter of 2007. There will be a big Grand Opening, but we have not yet set a date," ACE Home Center General Manager Sami Al-Yousef told WEEkender during an interview held at his office earlier this week. "We have identified a strong need for a Home Improvement store in the Cole Bay area. This location is attractive and offers tremendous potential," he explained.
Once completed, shoppers will be welcomed to a retail area that spans over 100,000 square ft. and contains a stock of more than 40,000 items in different categories, ranging from houseware, home decors, toys, paint and power tools to plumbing and electrical items, quite a large section of lumber and much more, Sami Al-Yousef pointed out. The new building will have two levels of retail. The ground floor will contain the hardware and building material sections, while the upper level will contain mostly houseware, home decor and gifts.
The new building will also provide ample space to display the articles in an attractive manner, including displays of a complete kitchen, garden and more. There will be a parking lot offering space tol35 vehicles or more. "ACE MEGASTORE will be a one-stop shop for everybody. We are building this new store with one key element in mind: our customers. We look forward to providing everyday home improvement solutions and helpful shopping experience to the island's residents off all ages,” the General Manager said. He added that the purpose of the new store with all the very competitive priced 40,000 items is for St. Maarteners to be able to avoid shopping overseas. "They will be better off buying it here," noted.
And talking about the local competition, he said, "Competition is always good, as it brings the prices down and it is healthy, because it keeps you on your toes to provide the best business on the island. I consider ACE Mega center as our own new competitor as well!"Sami Al-Yousef and his brother, Managing Director Yousef El Yousef, are joint owners of the family business, which currently includes Liteline Electrical N.V. on Cannegieter Street in Philipsburg and ACE Home Center and Penguin Air Conditioning on A.J.C. Brouwer Road in Cay Hill. The company's new facility in Cole Bay will be more than two and a half times as big as ACE Home Center, which measures 37,000 square ft.
At present the family business venture employs 60 people and Sami Al-Yousef expects that ACE Mega center will provide jobs for another 80 people. "We have already discussed it with the Labor Office. Most of the new employees will be Antilleans and St. Maarteners. We will work it out with the Head of the Labor Department, Mr. Rafael Boasman,” he pointed out. In order to maintain a high standard of customer service, the new and inexperienced employees will go through an intense training program, to be provided by experts from Oak Brook 111. USA-based ACE Hardware Corporation (www.acehardware.com), which comprises 5,000 independent stores in the USA and in 70 other countries, making it the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry.
ACE Mega center is part of the two million square ft. of new retail selling space ACE Hardware Corporation intends to open this year through branch stores all over the globe, according to Sami Al-Yousef.
Sami AlL-Yousef's and Yousef El Yousef s plan to build a Megastore did not come out of the air, but was preceded by careful observations and assessments of the island's economic position over the years.
" When we purchased the land five years ago, the time was not ripe for a new store of this magnitude. From 2001 to 2003 business on St. Maarten in general was down. In 2005 and 2006 it started to boom, which we also experienced in our business and so we felt the need to grow. By the end of 2005 we took the decision to build the new ACE Mega- center.
We have had exceptional success with Liteline Electrical in Philipsburg, which we opened in 1990 and Ace Home Center at Cay Hill which we opened in 1998. We have identified a strong need for a Home Improvement store in Cole Bay and we are excited to have the opportunity to provide building materials and home improvement solutions to even more customers in this other part of St. Maarten through ACE Megacenter," Sami Al-Yousef said.
Born in Kuwait and having grown up in a traditionally business-oriented family, Yousef El Yousef and Sami Al-Yousef take a lot of pride in feeling that they have become real St. Maarteners. "I am here since 1991 and my brother arrived in 1988.1 went to study accounting for two years at the University of St. Martin and another two years at Johnson & Wales University in the US. Yousef is an electrical engineer and graduated From Memphis State University.
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