Kooyman has opened its US$40 million megastore with a dismissal of suggestions its presence here will hurt smaller competitors in the hardware and building materials business.
The Dutch Caribbean company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Herbert van der Woude also said the company would not be a drain on Barbados’ foreign exchange.
He was speaking to the media Thursday at Kooyman’s 165 000 square foot complex at Kendal Hill, Christ Church, ahead of the opening ceremony later that day.
The CEO said the project was completed on time and within budget pointing out that since last September, 105 employees were hired, 103 of them locally
He expected the family-owned business to have a positive long-term impact on the economy and disagreed that the new megastore was bad news for its competitors.
“I don’t believe that. There is going to be a pressure on the whole sector to lift up its level of assortment, pricing, services and so on. We are certainly, absolutely, not looking to put any competitor out of business and I think there is also always room for different concepts,” said van der Woude. (SC)
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