RAPID True Value has partnered with Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) to sell appliances in its stores.

The deal has ATL supplying Rapid with appliances rather than the hardware chain importing the items itself.

“As part of our thrust of providing a one-stop shopping destination for everything the customer needs to build, renovate and decorate their homes, we have decided to re-enter the category,” Don Wehby, chief executive officer of GraceKennedy Group told the Business Observer.

The company is currently selling refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers and is assessing the needs ot the market and plans to adjust the range of products accordingly, he said.

“We started in 2011 but have now found a greater partner in ATL,” he added.

But Wehby declined to give sales projection or how the appliance business is anticipated to contribute to the company’s overall revenue.

Rapid, a GraceKennedy subsidiary that sells hardware, household and building supplies, doubled its pre-tax losses for the three months ended September 3013, moving from a loss of $11.5 million last year to $24.2 million during the quarter under review.

But the household segment saw an eight per cent increase in its external operating revenues, up from $1.1 billion last year to $1.2 billion year on year. It has also significantly lowered its financing cost, incurring $4.8 million this year compared to $11.1 million last year.

Still, Rapid’s parent, Hardware and Lumber, which also operates AgroGrace, a wholesaler and retailer of agriculture products and equipment, more than quarupled its third quarter net profit, moving from $7.4 million in the three months to September 30, 2012, to $36.8 million during the three months under review, while sales were $1.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion.

Rapid True Value has also partnered with its sister company, First Global Bank, to finance large purchases through the Rapid Credit Option — a medium-term loan agreement processed by the commercial bank. It is significantly different from a hire purchase arrangement with significantly lower rates, according to Wehby.

The compay’s Lane (Constant Spring Road), Mandeville, Portmore, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay stores have goods on display, but customers can also order their appliances from any of its other locations — Cross Roads, Manor Park, Sovereign, Spanish Town Road and May Pen, although the products are not displayed there.