Select retail reimagined:

Distribution company Derrimon Trading Limited has formed a partnership with Intcomex, a distributor of computer products, to operate an electronics store at Millennium Mall under the brand, Select Tech.

So far, the companies have pumped $100 million into setting up and stocking a retail outlet in one of five shop spaces created on the mezzanine of a newly opened Select Grocers store in the Clarendon-based mall, but the investment is expected to near double by year-end as the partners expand the store’s product offerings. Select Grocers is supermarket business controlled by Derrimon.

Currently, Select Tech stocks electronic items such as games, phones, laptops, printers, television sets, network and cabling equipment and other small appliances, but plans are to widen its offerings to include car radios, smart home fixtures and fittings, security cameras and more.

Derrimon plans to position Select Grocers as a one-stop shop with the addition of the new Select Tech store, which, over time, is expected to look like a mini version of the American Best Buy chain.

Select Tech is the third private business operating within the Select Grocers supermarket, the others being flower shop, Best Buds, and electrical and lighting store Fosrich. However, it’s the only one in which Derrimon has a stake.

Before the year comes to a close, Derrimon has plans to lease two more shops to a courier company and a party store. Overall, the mezzanine area spans roughly 11,000 square feet. Of the five stores, Select Tech will be the largest.

“From day one we decided that we didn’t want to use the mezzanine as warehouse space as many people would do,” said Derrimon CEO and Chairman Derrick Cotterell. “It’s a nice experience to shop and look over onto the supermarket,” he said.

Partner companies Derrimon and Intcomex will operate Select Tech for a year to test the market demand for the products before any decision is taken to formalise the business as a subsidiary of Derrimon Group.

Its target customers are retail consumers as well as businesses.

If the business model is successful, then Derrimon will look to incorporate Select Tech in the Select Grocers store in Kingston, before moving to build out the chain in stand-alone locations. Intcomex currently has a location at Constant Spring Road in St Andrew.

“We got the idea to do a tech store and we decided to go with it because some products either don’t exist in Jamaica or are very hard to find and would require the customers to visit several stores,” Cotterell said.

The tech store is new territory for the Derrimon Group which has largely dealt in retail grocery and consumer food distribution through its local supermarkets Sampars Cash and Carry, Select Grocers, international speciality foods supermarkets FoodSaver New York and Good Food for Less, manufacturer Spicy Hill Farms, meat-processing company Arosa Limited and Caribbean Flavours and Fragrances.

It’s sole company outside of the food market is pallet-making company Woodcats International.

The new flagship Select Grocers store at Millennium Mall spans 41,000 square feet, one of the largest supermarkets in Jamaica which became operational at the beginning of the year.

“This is how the modern supermarket is and we thought it great to start this concept in Clarendon to lessen the number of trips consumers take to Kingston,” Cotterell said.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com