Excellent Stores to close Trincity, Arima branches

Excellent Stores is closing its Trincity and Arima branches, on the heels of the closure of its Port of Spain branch last December.

The Trincity store, at Trincity Mall, closes on March 31, and April 30 is the last business day for the Arima store at Shops of Arima.

Excellent CEO Alex Sui Chong made the announcement in a statement shared on the company's Facebook page on Wednesday.

Sui Chong said the retail chain is continuing to shift operations to online sales as it seeks to emerge from economic challenges and the covid19 pandemic "as a stronger retailer." 

He did not say how many employees would be affected.

"We remain focused on our strategic plan for pivoting in the new normal and driving and sustaining profitable growth by focusing and redeploying our resources to our e-commerce platform that has been growing at an exponential rate," he said.

Sui Chong said the move allows the company to make better use of limited foreign exchange to procure products and improve the quality of its service delivery, logistics, in-store innovations, and integrate online sales at the remaining stores.

Although it was a difficult decision, Sui Chong said, "sometimes it is necessary to close 'good stores' to 'create' great ones." 

In a Newsday interview last November, the company's chief operating officer Lisa Sui Chong first announced the retailer's digitisation plans when it closed the branch at the company's Excellent City Centre in Port of Spain. 

The space, she said, would be rented to new tenants as part of plans to revitalise the mall on Frederick Street and Independence Square.

The retailer's remaining locations are MovieTowne, Mucurapo, C3 Centre, San Fernando and Price Plaza, Chaguanas which is also its head office