On Friday, RadioShack will open its second store in Montego Bay, St James — a little less than a year after setting up shop in Mandeville, Manchester.

The electronics store operated by Unicomer Jamaica has already contracted three individuals to manage operations of the new store, bringing to total six people employed by the company to date between the St James and Manchester branches.

RadioShack Montego Bay will also provide employment opportunities for students as it gears up for its new ‘Ambassador Programme’.

Senior brand manager of Unicomer Jamaica Limited, Jacqueline Edwards-Locke, yesterday told the Jamaica Observer that RadioShack is now finalising plans for the opening of a third store in Kingston by May.

Unicomer Jamaica, which currently trades as Courts Jamaica, also manages the Ashley Furniture HomeStore brand and Lucky Dollar.

The group recently opened six similar RadioShack stores in Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana, noting that this forms part of a deliberate strategy to take advantage of an opening in the regional technology and appliances market.

In April 2015, Unicomer’s parent company, Regal Forest Holdings, acquired the brand and franchising rights, intellectual property, and existing contracts for RadioShack stores in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

It currently owns and operates 75 RadioShack stores in Curacao, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Trinidad, Barbados, and Guyana.

Additionally, Unicomer, through its Global Franchise Unit, manages business relations with authorised RadioShack franchises that collectively operate 171 licensed stores in Antigua, Costa Rica, Haiti, Paraguay and Peru, according to a release from the company.

RadioShack list products include blue tooth speakers and transmitters, notebook computers, tablets, power banks, headphones, android boxes, and fitness trackers. As part of its offering to increase market share, the Unicomer Group offers financing plans to its customers.

— Karena Bennett