Courts Ready Cash, a subsidiary of the Unicomer Jamaica Group (Courts), yesterday expanded its footprint to Whitehall, Negril.

The new location brings to 14 the number of Ready Cash stores run by the furniture and appliance giant, which has been operating in Jamaica for over 50 years. It also represents a strengthening of the company’s foothold in the microfinance sector.

Currently there are seven Courts Ready Cash branches in Courts stores across the island. The remaining seven are standalone locations in Port Antonio, Portland; Linstead, St Catherine; King’s Plaza, Kingston; Spanish Town, St Catherine; Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland; Brown’s Town, St Ann; and the most recent, Negril, Westmoreland.

“We started what was called cash loans with our Courts customers from 2010. It helped a lot of customers, and from the feedback we decided to start Courts Ready Cash in June 2015 with three stores,” Chain Manager Richard Benjamin told the Jamaica Observer.

Today the company provides unsecured loans of up to $600,000 repayable over a period of 36 months to cover any expense. Still, Courts Ready Cash is seeking to plug the financing gap for entrepreneurs seeking to start or expand their business.

“Most microfinance institutions hardly give to self-employed individuals the amount that we lend. We also give them flexible repayment of up to 12 months for new persons and up to 36 months for existing customers,” he said.

Just last month Courts Ready Cash opened its door in Brown’s Town, St Ann, and is eyeing further expansion across the island. According to Brand Manager Jacqueline Edwards-Locke, the opening of the Courts Ready Cash Negril yesterday marks a milestone achievement for the company, having had no Unicomer brand in the parish.

The expansion also saw the company employing four additional staff to its current 72 employees to manage operations.

Negril is known as one of the premier locations for entertainment on the island. The parish capital is also home to a number of tourist resorts and restaurants. The town’s famous Seven Mile White Sand Beach, particularly the portion overlooking Long Bay, is lined with bars, restaurants and resorts, many of them international and all-inclusive.

For the first six months of 2016, Jamaica welcomed a record 2.08 million visitors by air and sea, or 7.7 per cent higher year-on-year, according to data from the Jamaica Tourist Board. The report added that 89 per cent of stopover arrivals visited Jamaica for leisure, 4.8 per cent on business, and 5.1 per cent for other purposes, with the bulk of visitors resting in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril.

Over the years, the natural attractions of Negril have spurred the development of many businesses. Courts Ready Cash also hopes to capitalise on the activities on the western end of the island.

“It’s a facility that works for just about anything that you need to do, and we know that Negril is the party central. There’s ATI and we definitely will be looking at how we can customise our loans for persons on this side of the island and include people who go to parties. We also have the carnival goers as well, and that time is coming up,” Edwards-Locke told Caribbean Business Report.

She added that Negril’s demographic also allows Courts Ready Cash the opportunity to facilitate hotel workers looking to further their education, and self-employed individuals hoping to expand or start up business in the parish.

“We may not have a Courts store in Negril, but we do have stores in Savanna-la-Mar and Lucea, and most of these persons work in and around the area, so we are making it more convenient. Every other location, you will recognise that there are a lot of microfinance institutions. Right now I see none in Negril other than us, which is an advantage,” Edwards-Locke said.

While she declined to speak on what Courts Jamaica has pumped into the Ready Cash operation so far, Edwards-Locke reasoned that the return on investment for all the branches to date has been good, with some showing more profitability than others.

“We expect no less from Negril,” she said.