Tru Valu supermarkets, Long Circular Mall up for sale

LIQUIDATORS Grant Thornton have started the process for the divestment of Tru Valu’s chain of supermarkets.

Several officials at Grant Thornton confirmed to Newsday that the process had started but added it was still in the early stages.

“All we're doing at this point in time is advertising the asset so that interested parties will notify us to be included in the process,” the liquidators said.

An advertisement for an investment opportunity in the form of Tru Valu was placed in local newspapers on January 7.

“Since its establishment in 1978, it has emerged as one of the largest supermarket brands in Trinidad and Tobago, continuing to assert its dominance in the Caribbean grocery market,” the advertisement said.

It noted the supermarket’s five stores in Diego Martin, Long Circular Mall, San Juan, Trincity and Valpark Plaza have a total square footage of 138,000 square feet. It added that the Trincity branch had just expanded to 65,000 square feet.

Grant Thornton is also the liquidators behind the sale of Long Circular Mall which had advertisements in the local papers on January 6.

Long Circular, which contains 123 (c) commercial units was advertised as having a leasing area of 173 square feet.

“Established as a community-focused shopping destination especially popular with residents of Maraval, St James and nearby neighbourhoods, LCM is home to established local and international brands ensuring a diverse tenant mix, creating a vibrant and steady flow of traffic,” the advertisement said.

The courts approved the proposed sale of both Tru Value and Long Circular Mall in September last year.

In 2020, liquidators expressed plans to prepare properties directly and indirectly owned by CL Financial. Tru Value and Long Circular Mall are owned by one of its subsidiaries, Home Construction Ltd.