WHEN KATHEANN GRIMES wanted to start her own hardware business she was stopped in her tracks by a sharp and resounding “no”.
She was told,“this business won’t work”, when she applied to borrow $50 000 from a lending agency to get it off the ground.
At that time she had no collateral –simply almost 20 years’ experience in the field, a goal to create an enterprise that her children could carry on and a hope that it would indeed work.
This all happened back in 1995 and almost 22 years later, Grimes Electrical and Plumbing Supplies is a household name and Katheann is believed to be one of the few, if not the only female in Barbados that owns and runs her own electrical and plumbing supplies company.
In an interview with the MIDWEEK NATION, at the business in Springers Road, Hindsbury Road, St Michael, the now 63-year-old thanked God for seeing her through all her earlier struggles.
“It was rough,” she admitted. “But I had a lot of confidence in myself.
“. . . When I first went to the bank they told me they don’t think the business would work,” she said.
Grimes’ career began in nursing but she moved on to work at Barbados Hardware, later at Alleyne Arthur in electrical, where she worked for 17 years before it went belly up in 1992.
Subsequently, she started an electrical department for another business but then she made the decision that it was time to have her own.
Her industry and commitment had worked well for other businesses; why not let it work for herself also.
The situation was trying for her because she was due money from National Insurance after the closure of Alleyne Arthur, but that was a long wait because it happened around the same time a number of conductors were made redundant by the Transport Board and that placed a heavy demand on the NIS’ funds while the benefits were also reduced at the same time.
“I had some funds saved; it wasn’t a lot but I used it to buy some items and turn over with them,” the St Thomas resident recalled.
“My daughters weren’t working and I asked them if they were willing to learn electrical, plumbing and hardware and they said yes. It was a matter of getting them employed and learn about the business aspect so they could become independent women,” Grimes said.
Katheann Grimes (left) sharing a light moment with her employees Roger Warde and Joy-ann Grimes, who is also her daughter.
The following year, she established Grimes Electrical and Plumbing Supplies, operating from a tiny room with one table at her childhood home in Springers Road.
As word spread that she was now operating her own business, neighbours and past customers gave her their full support.
“Then it [the space] became too small and I moved to the front taking up the whole living room,” she laughed.
“Then some electricians that knew me from Alleyne Arthur started to come. They would wait on me for things, even when I didn’t have.”
She started out by selling electrical wires, fittings, welding rods, et cetera, and by 2000 the business had grown and she started selling hardware items also.
At every stage they were obstacles. Grimes recalled how challenging it was to meet the demand of customers in the early stages of the business.
“When I first started, especially when somebody come with a list and they got 15 items and sometimes I could only supply six, sometimes they would see the expression in my face and would take the six.
“Most of them knew me from Alleyne Arthur and they would say ,‘Grimes don’t worry. I would get the rest from somewhere else’, but I used to feel a way and thought that I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Many nights, I ashame to say, but I would cry and say, ‘Oh Lord I would like some help’ and the Lord made a way and he made me strong to know if you start from little you can reach the top,” she said.
In the business’ tenth year Grimes received an unexpected call. It was the same lending agency which had previously rejected her.
“A lady from the bank called me and again said they weren’t able to lend me the original amount and asked if I still needed help.
“I said yes I would like some help and they gave me some and I ordered in the stuff because I knew who to order from and I ordered to suit the money I had. The people in Miami knew me from ordering at Alleyne Arthur so they gave me a little 30-day credit and that helped me along,” Grimes said.
In its years, Grimes Electrical and Plumbing Supplies has grown even though the business owner admitted it was still tough being a woman in the sphere. However, she is helped tremendously by her four daughters and son, as well as three grand-children and her loyal friend Roger Warde.
Although Grimes’ children are sceptical about continuing the family trade “because they say it is too hard and I have in a chip and they don’t have in any,” Grimes said she was hopeful that in time they would change their minds.
“As the only woman leading this type of business I feel very good about it. I got to thank God a lot for everything. I feel good. It is threatening but it is good because I put my all into it and I believe that if you’re going to do something you got to put your all into it. I used to put my all into Alleyne Arthur, so with my business I think I should go all the way into it. And I would encourage any woman that have a goal in mind that she too should go after it,” Grimes said. (SDB Media)