TM Traders Limited, the parent company of the Norman Manley International Airport-based Port of Call, a duty-free shop in the departure lounge of the airport, said it is gearing up to increase its offerings in an expanded airport terminal and is set to introduce its own branded product.

Kerry-Ann Jones, general manager of TM Traders Limited, said the plans are part of the company’s mantra to give its customers what they want as it seeks to capitalise on the pending multimillion dollar upgrade of the airport. PAC Kingston Airports Limited (PACKAL), which operates the airport, is on the verge of an expansion plan and the expectation is that the operators will also seek to attract more flights to the airport.

“With the new airport operators being Mexicans, they are looking to bring Latin America to Kingston,” Jones said as she openly salivates over the impact that will have on her store in the airport which is popular with departing passengers, especially those seeking to buy duty-free rum for friends and families abroad. “They have introduced Arajet, which goes to the Dominican Republic out of Kingston. We are expecting and anticipating that we will have a very vibrant Latin American community coming into and out of Kingston. So what we have done as a result is that we have gotten items from Latin America to include in our portfolio, because one of the things we want to do is to ensure that we serve them,” Jones continued.

Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) handles approximately 1 million passengers annually. The push is to boost those figures when the upgrade is completed.

But capitalising on increasing passenger numbers is not the only plan TM Traders has at the moment. The company, which through its Port of Call location sells duty-free alcohol, tobacco, fragrances, and leather products, said it is also developing its own product to add to the stacked portfolio it now carries.

Jones said the new product is an alcoholic beverage, but she declined to divulge further information, except to say it will debut in January.

“Our aim is to become another manufacturer because that is what Jamaica is needing more. We want to export because Brand Jamaica has global appeal. The reality is that we have 3 million people in Jamaica and millions of people around the world who want Jamaican products,” she pointed out as she added that the product is being added after assessing the demand of its customers.

“One of the great things is that when you are in the business as long as we have been, we understand what people want.”

That understanding has driven the company over the last 31 years it has been in business. TM Traders was started in 1992, an entity which took over the operations of the Little Liquor duty-free store that was previously operated by J Wray and Nephew Limited, an alcohol company based in Jamaica.

Jones, reflecting on the journey the company has taken over the last three decades, recalled how it changed hands and names until the current Port of Call was settled on. It was first taken over by her father, and was originally called Triple A Duty Free Liquor and Tobacco. Triple A was just the initials for the three founders, her father Alva, his friend Anthony, and Anthony’s wife Annette. Alva and Anthony were previously employees of J Wray and Nephew ahead of taking over the store when their employer gave it up.

“This was before Norman Manley [International Airport] had changed to its present look,” she noted. She said one month into operating the entity her father gave up the day-to-day running of the business “because of old age” and since then herself and her sister Stacy Anderson, along with Anthony’s son Warren, have been running the business.

“One of the important thing for our business at the time was making sure that we excelled where Little Liquor store did not,” she said as she pointed out that people could not get rum at the time sometimes from the previous store because it “kept office hours”.

That she said meant that those on early or late flights could not access the store for rum, which left them “very upset”.

“We recognised that and opened for Jamaicans for all their flights. We open from early morning until the last flight leaves,” she stated, adding that of every item sold in the store, “if it doesn’t have rum, it’s a nightmare”.

Since then, the company has diversified its offerings, but rum remains the main product sought. With PACKAL’s planned expansion to afford her more space in the departure lounge, Jones said the “objective is to increase our square footage and create a more user-friendly store which customers can walk through. We are also looking to expand our offerings. Under the duty-free banner, there are certain things we are allowed to carry. Right now though, based on the contract that we have, we do liquor, we do tobacco, we do fragrances, and we do leather goods. But under the duty-free banner, we are allowed to carry anything that falls under the ‘Duty-Free Act’ so it is not restricted to that. It could include electronics, sunglasses, jewellery. It’s a lot, so it’s really just about what we want to actually add to our portfolio.”

She said while she is proud to carry products from the “big boys” like J Wray and Nephew, she equally feels proud to display and sell products from artisanal producers as well to supply her customers with what they demand.

We are always determined to give them what they want,” she concluded.