FAIRVIEW, St James – RadioShack, the store that “has all your needs that suit your lifestyle”, had its grand opening earlier this month in St James, and already the operators are describing it as a success.

“So far we have seen good, good traffic. We have had a steady traffic,” stated Jacqueline Edwards Locke, brand manager of Unicomer Group Jamaica Limited.

Radioshack, an American chain of electronic stores which dates back to 1921, is currently owned in Central and South America and the Caribbean by the Unicomer Group, parent company of Courts, Lucky Dollar, and Ashley Furniture Homestores.

Edwards Locke noted that while there is a wide cross section of shoppers, the store, which is located on the same building as Courts Fairview, is a hit with students.

“You know, when the students come to something it is always a success, because you know how young persons are,” stated Edwards Locke, who noted that customers are either looking at or purchasing a wide array of items the store has to offer.

Some of the fastest-selling items are: batteries, HDMI cables, headsets, and Bluetooth speakers. Other items sold are: power banks, SD cards, cellphones, tablets, laptops or notebooks; computer keyboards, synthesiser keyboards, voice recorders, health monitors, VHF/UHF/FM digital and analogue amplified receiving antennas, audio cables, car kits, LED bulbs, surge protectors, drones and Android TV boxes.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t have it, chances are we may try to source it. Because if you find more than one customer asking for the same thing, we are here to suit your lifestyle. So, you never can tell,” said Locke.

The aesthetics, friendly and knowledgeable staff, options, and financing are the four key selling points that set Radioshack apart from other competitors. Not only these, but the company also offers a combo deal where a customer buys a product and receives a complementary item free, such as a free case with a tablet purchased.

Edwards Locke said the company is replicating in Montego Bay, St James, the success experienced in Mandeville, Manchester, since it’s opening last year.

“We are replicating that success here. Opened on Thursday and, as you know, we will be here six days a week, from Mondays to Saturdays. We start at 10:00 am and we close at 7:00 pm,” revealed Edwards Locke.

The Fairview store in St James is 575 square feet, while Mandeville’s is 458 square feet. There are plans in place to open a third store in Kingston shortly.

“That for us is going to be huge. I am not going to say the size yet, but it is going to be huge. We are going to open with a bang. In Kingston, we have a lot of tech people. So, we are expecting great things from that opening. It (Kingston) is not going to be any less.”

Apart from the recent official opening of RadioShack, Unicomer also launched an ambassador programme, which is opened to university students or recent university graduates who are aged 18 or older. Prospective ambassadors should also be tech and social media-savvy.

“What that person is expected to do is, at their university, we will in fact almost take them as our own, be a part of our team. So, they will be expected to talk about our brand in the schools, events that may have on campus; we want them to sell the brand,” outlined Edwards Locke, who noted that ambassadors will be given “tools and information needed to assist them in pushing the brand”.

“I can’t give away too much right now, but to be a RadioShack ambassador, you won’t regret it. That much I will tell you,” said Edwards Locke.

Apart from the Unicomer Group, a multinational retailing company, headquartered in El Salvador, owning and operating Courts in the Caribbean (since 2006), RadioShack in Central America, South America and the Caribbean (since 2015) and Ashley Furniture HomeStore and Lucky Dollar stores in Jamaica and Trinidad (since 2007), the company also operates over 20 other chains of retail brands in the USA, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

The group recently opened six similar RadioShack stores in Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad, taking advantage of an opening in the regional technology and appliance market.

Unicomer also own and operates 75 RadioShack stores in Barbados, Curacao, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Trinidad.

In addition, the company, 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.