Businesses that closed down in Trinidad & Tobago due to Covid-19 lockdown

[Numb3r4]

Well we were a capitalistic society, but we did practice social welfare schemes that were socialist in nature.

We've had a history of educated folks and folks in general migrating usually for economic reasons.

An amazingly heartfelt and honest expression of a leaders views on race. No pandering or appeals to emotional fervour. The kind of tone and level of discussion we should have had...but say what "All ah we is one famalieee".

Talk to each other in a calm rational way....

Re-evaluate policy as circumstances change.

Get the best into politics?? Nah they either leave or go to work for the multi-nationals or are left to idle or put out to pasture.

Elect a cheap government and you'll be sorry.

What can governments do to keep up enthusiasm?

You need to equalize opportunity not outcomes.

What were we doing in 1963, 1964 and 1965?

Don't settle for less, "well wha yuh go do daiz wha we get, we go hadda take dat"

Leaders shouldn't settle for a way out for themselves.

Good government is not guaranteed.

You get who you vote for.

Your future your responsibility.

Government provides the framework for the people to express themselves, but the people must have the will to do it.

If the people don't have the will power to do anything then the government will not do anything.

[K74T]

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Liquidators start process to sell Trincity, Long Circular Malls

JOINT liquidators of CL Financial, David Holukoff, and Hugh Dickson, have started a process to sell Trincity Mall and Long Circular Mall, two of the last retail spaces owned by CL Financial subsidiary Home Construction Ltd, multiple sources told the Express Business.

The joint liquidators have procured a valuation for the properties, hired a manager for the process and issued a Request for Proposals to some of the country’s top commercial property landowners.

Together, the two malls comprise about 650,000 square feet of retail space and house about 400 stores, inclusive of kiosks.

Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in March, the occupancy rate at Long Circular Mall was between 75 and 85 per cent, while Trincity Mall was between 80 and 90 per cent.

The joint liquidators have procured a valuation for the properties, hired a manager for the process and issued a Request for Proposals to some of the country’s top commercial property landowners.

Together, the two malls comprise about 650,000 square feet of retail space and house about 400 stores, inclusive of kiosks.

Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in March, the occupancy rate at Long Circular Mall was between 75 and 85 per cent, while Trincity Mall was between 80 and 90 per cent.

Another tenant, who insisted on anonymity, outlined three reasons why the number of people coming to the Trincity Mall has declined.

“The cinemas have been closed down; the restaurants at the two food courts are now only allowed to sell food on a grab-and-go basis and Royal Bank has closed its branch at the mall as has Island Finance,” said the tenant.

https://trinidadexpress.com/business/lo ... 88935.html

[ProtonPowder]

A fire sale ensues, government financiers are foaming at the mouth. Crash everything with negligence and incompetence, then let your friends buy the pieces for pennies on the dollar.

Monopoly in action

[Numb3r4]

Damn....anyone got any ideas as to who might be stepping up to the plate?

[killercow]

Damn....anyone got any ideas as to who might be stepping up to the plate?

I'll take a wild guess and say maybe Sabga, Derek Chin or Mouttet?

[eliteauto]

Anyone stepping up I say good luck. Retail is dying, LCM is old and TM has impending competition with Aboud's new mall 1 minute away. Maybe convert to housing?

[screwbash]

Anyone stepping up I say good luck. Retail is dying, LCM is old and TM has impending competition with Aboud's new mall 1 minute away. Maybe convert to housing?

retail cannot be dying and the 1% will never allow this as they have the infulence to stop it. business was slowing down because of online shopping and boom 7% ONLINE TAX and limit on USD so expect a move to stop online shopping soon.
Everyone move to FB to sell stuff from used items to cars to plants and baby items so expect some gimmic to tax these online retailers because it is a business they running similar to persons renting under they house as apartments and shut down FB selling and bring them back to the malls and stores to shop. you think that 2 big mall after trincity mall build cause they have nothing better to do with their money, is serious business projections and stuff that make people invest. covid only make it better for these people.

[Ben_spanna]

Trincity mall is curently below 50% tenanted though??? certainly seems that way hen you walk the corridors... LCM still not so bad, but watch and see who will end up owning these malls, get ready for the onslaught attack of the supposed Won pacent!!!

[Dizzy28]

Unicomer wanted one of the malls. Dunno if that remains the same.

Damn....anyone got any ideas as to who might be stepping up to the plate?

[Les Bain]

Used to heavily watch those dead mall documentaries on YouTube until a lot of places including Trincity started giving off that vibe and I stopped watching.

In the states, thriving malls would experience a slowdown when online shopping was introduced. Then the bankruptcy of big time franchises (called anchor stores) like Sears, JC Penney and KMart would leave the entertainment areas (Cinemas and restaurants) and smaller stores to hold strain. But the former mom & pop stores were already on the ropes cause of the huge stores and wouldn't be enough to carry the mall due to reduced sales and having to pay peak time rents.

Eventually, peak time at the mall would look like opening hours during the school week, the majority of store fronts would be boarded up, and GNC or Bath and Bodyworks would end up being the anchor stores. Those would likely remain there until the final liquidation stages, then the mall gets shuttered while waiting on some options that would come up under the new owner. In Trincity case, Pennywise, Tru Value and Excellent appear like the anchors though honestly, the latter two have been steadily decaying for a while.

Depending on the structure's condition, the new owner would turn it into a school or demolish it for new, unrelated options like housing.

Had no idea how Trincity would have competed with that rival development further down the road. Now it making sense what going on. In most cases in the dead mall series, a newly built mall would take over, management trying to find ways to be an attractive alternative to online shopping. People do feel the need to get out their houses after all.

Long Circular location always seemed ideal for a hip, gentrified rental housing project.

[teems1]

Every time I've been to Sawgrass or Dolphin, it's been beyond crowded.

I think many of those dead malls happen due to a newer, more convenient location retail space opening elsewhere. Doesn't even have to be a new mall. A Walmart or Target is enough to kill an old mall in an area with not enough demand for 2 places.

[Rovin]

why they doh simply reduce d rent even if is by half , better to eat half plate ah food than no food right .....

[Les Bain]

why they doh simply reduce d rent even if is by half , better to eat half plate ah food than no food right .....

When I asked someone who was moving out from Shops of Arima if they considered Trincity, they basically said rent too stink, meager money after they pay rent. They were preparing to be a Facebook fronted online store with flexible delivery options. They still operating so I guess that worked out.

Most times what ruins a mall is either poor management, the owner's sabotage-like direction or fresh competition, whether online or brick & mortar.

[bluefete]

Damn....anyone got any ideas as to who might be stepping up to the plate?

I'll take a wild guess and say maybe Sabga, Derek Chin or Mouttet?

Check who was opening businesses by the dozens close to Trincity Mall last year and you will know.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Every time I've been to Sawgrass or Dolphin, it's been beyond crowded.

A lot of that is tourists

[Dizzy28]

Trinidad have malls but Dolphin and Sawgrass represents a distinctive subset of malls in the US. They are both outlet malls with a very different demographic target market.

Every time I've been to Sawgrass or Dolphin, it's been beyond crowded.

A lot of that is tourists

[pugboy]

and george aboud building a mall down the road too

Damn....anyone got any ideas as to who might be stepping up to the plate?

I'll take a wild guess and say maybe Sabga, Derek Chin or Mouttet?

Check who was opening businesses by the dozens close to Trincity Mall last year and you will know.

[Les Bain]

1% real making a killing though people throwing around the term like is a bad thing.

[bluefete]

1% real making a killing though people throwing around the term like is a bad thing.

It is not a bad thing if you are benefitting.

"Some animals are more equal than others." (George Orwell - Animal Farm, 1945)

[Ben_spanna]

mean while amazons owner became the worlds wealthiest man during covid lockdown worldwide!

[bluefete]

mean while amazons owner became the worlds wealthiest man during covid lockdown worldwide!

It is all down to your business model.

[adnj]

Every time I've been to Sawgrass or Dolphin, it's been beyond crowded.

A lot of that is tourists

Outlet Malls in the US didn't fare so well Christmas 2919

Outlet Malls Bucked the Shift to Online. Until Now.

By Suzanne Kapner and Esther Fung
Oct. 5, 2019 9:00 am ET

Outlet stores were long a source of growth for retailers, which have been hard hit by the shift to online shopping and competition from startups. Shoppers flocked to these centers for bargains they couldn’t traditionally get at malls, but now outlets are showing the same signs of stress as traditional stores.

There are only about 400 U.S. outlet centers compared with more than 1,100 traditional malls, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That means outlet centers aren’t struggling against the oversupply that has plagued traditional malls, which have seen dozens of their retail tenants close stores or go out of business as more shoppers buy online.

But outlets are feeling the effects of retail bankruptcies and the shift to online shopping, too. Chains including Gymboree and Charlotte Russe have closed locations in outlet centers, and Forever 21, which filed for bankruptcy protection this week, plans to close around a dozen outlet stores.

Outlet centers are also facing stiffer competition from off-price chains such as T.J. Maxx and Nordstrom Rack, which are located closer to where most people live, as well as from regular stores that have cut prices to remain competitive.

“The proposition of driving (typically) much further distances to get to an outlet center seems that much less attractive,” Paul Lejuez, a Citi analyst, wrote in a recent research note.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/outlet-mal ... 1570280437

[Les Bain]

Are our 1% saviours to thank for the breath of life given to Piarco Plaza? The place was circling the drain hole before Domino's, Church's and Rituals show up.

Would be nice if they turn it into a food hub. Hopefully George's and Ams cafe benefit from the extra visitors.

[eliteauto]

Movietowne Chaguanas closes permanently: Derek Chin explains why

After a decade in operation the Movietowne Chaguanas branch will be permanently closed.

Business magnate and Movietowne owner Derek Chin issued a statement informing that the decision stems from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a "difficult landlord".

"I wish to inform you that we will be closing our Movietowne Chaguanas branch for good as the pandemic along with a difficult landlord has made it uneconomical for us to continue," he stated.

Chin cited the uncertainty surrounding Government's Covid-19 measures as also being a factor.

"The extended shut down and the continued uncertainty has made it extremely difficult to continue and in the interest of keeping our overall business in a survival mode we felt this was the best alternative for us," he stated.

Chin stated that Movietowne's other locations in Port of Spain and C3 San Fernando Tobago will remain open when the restrictions are relaxed.

"We wish to thank our many Central and Chaguanas patrons for the support over the last 10 years." he stated.

The deadly Covid-19 virus dealt a financial blow to the cinema world since it hit this country in March forcing all theatres to close.

Cinemas were reopened in June but that was short-lived as they were shut down again a few weeks later in August after the number of cases increased.

Cinemas globally are also closing their doors.

A report in the UK's Sunday Times last week stated that Regal Cinemas owner of Cineworld is closing all of the chain’s locations in the United States as well as its theaters in the United Kingdom.

Cineworld operates 128 venues in the U.K. and Ireland in addition to Regal’s 546 theaters in the U.S. consisting of 7,211 screens.

Regal is the second largest theatrical chain in the US after AMC, while Cineworld is the UK' s biggest cinema operator.

According to the report Cineworld reported a loss of a $1.6 billion (UK currency) in the first half of 2020 in recent days, with “no certainty” as to what impact the pandemic could have in the future.

A BBC report stated that over 5500 jobs are expected to be affected in the UK.

https://trinidadexpress.com/newsextra/m ... 81b27.html

[ProtonPowder]

Who is the landlord?

[pugboy]

the main price plaza is rahael
dunno if that side is same

Who is the landlord?

[Kewell35]

Movietowne Chaguanas closes permanently: Derek Chin explains why

After a decade in operation the Movietowne Chaguanas branch will be permanently closed.

Business magnate and Movietowne owner Derek Chin issued a statement informing that the decision stems from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a "difficult landlord".

"I wish to inform you that we will be closing our Movietowne Chaguanas branch for good as the pandemic along with a difficult landlord has made it uneconomical for us to continue," he stated.

Chin cited the uncertainty surrounding Government's Covid-19 measures as also being a factor.

"The extended shut down and the continued uncertainty has made it extremely difficult to continue and in the interest of keeping our overall business in a survival mode we felt this was the best alternative for us," he stated.

Chin stated that Movietowne's other locations in Port of Spain and C3 San Fernando Tobago will remain open when the restrictions are relaxed.

"We wish to thank our many Central and Chaguanas patrons for the support over the last 10 years." he stated.

The deadly Covid-19 virus dealt a financial blow to the cinema world since it hit this country in March forcing all theatres to close.

Cinemas were reopened in June but that was short-lived as they were shut down again a few weeks later in August after the number of cases increased.

Cinemas globally are also closing their doors.

A report in the UK's Sunday Times last week stated that Regal Cinemas owner of Cineworld is closing all of the chain’s locations in the United States as well as its theaters in the United Kingdom.

Cineworld operates 128 venues in the U.K. and Ireland in addition to Regal’s 546 theaters in the U.S. consisting of 7,211 screens.

Regal is the second largest theatrical chain in the US after AMC, while Cineworld is the UK' s biggest cinema operator.

According to the report Cineworld reported a loss of a $1.6 billion (UK currency) in the first half of 2020 in recent days, with “no certainty” as to what impact the pandemic could have in the future.

A BBC report stated that over 5500 jobs are expected to be affected in the UK.

https://trinidadexpress.com/newsextra/m ... 81b27.html

wtf

[screwbash]

ramish and leela in the crossie in san juan closed down. i seeing it empty.

[MaxPower]

Friends,

Remember i told you Trinis many many times...

The 1% is always a step ahead....

Always.