BH expands to Portmore
Published:Thursday | April 23, 2015 | 11:59 AMTameka Gordon
The maker of BH Paints opened its eighth Jamaican retail outlet in Portmore with expectations that the fast-growing dormitory community will vault the new store into the top revenue generator in the retail segment within a year.
The 800-square-foot store began operations a month ago.
"If you're selling paint, especially decorative paint, you want to be where most decorative paint is sold and that is a residential dwelling. Portmore is the biggest one we have in the Corporate Area in terms of density, outside of urban St Andrew," said marketing manager of BH West Indies Limited, Claude Manning.
BH expects the Portmore sales to surmount the current high performer in Mandeville.
"We do expect this to be one of the highest-yielding stores in short order. We expect that within the next six months to a year, this will be the best performing store," said Manning, who declined to state the revenue target.
Portmore's "population density is what makes the proposition great. You probably have more people living within a one-mile radius of the store than you would find within a five-mile radius of any of the other stores," he said.
The Portmore store is also a prototype for what Manning described as a 'more sociable customer interface', with BH adopting a new presentation of its products inside the retail space.
"The signage and layout with this one is a bit more laid-back and welcoming," he said.
"We are really expanding the side of our offering as colour consultants, so we want people to be able to interact with us more closely than before...," he added.
BH is the number two paint company behind Berger Paints Jamaica. The company, which is a member of the Harris Group of Companies out of Barbados, has its manufacturing base in Kingston, while its retail stores are in Kingston, Portmore, Spanish Town, Mandeville, Savanna-la-Mar and Montego Bay.
BH's Portmore location is staffed by two persons but the company will deploy "floaters" to the location on days when the extra staff is needed, Manning said.