BRUCE Loshusan isn’t in a hurry to add new stores.

Even as supermarket chains compete for land and push into new markets, he’s choosing to stay put; opting instead to be more intentional with the New Kingston, St Andrew, property his family has owned for decades.

“We’ve been asked to expand the brand to other parishes but for us, it’s not about numbers — it’s about experience,” Loshusan told the Jamaica Observer in an interview following the ground-breaking last week. “We’d have to have the right management in place… I’d need to bring more family members on board, so that’s something we’d have to think through very carefully,” he continued.

That mindset now shapes a major redevelopment of the current John R Wong supermarket at Lots 1-5 Tobago Avenue in St Andrew. The existing building, constructed in the 1960s, will be renovated to accommodate a larger supermarket, a new food hall, an e-commerce pickup lane, and a six-level parking garage with space for roughly 289 vehicles for both the supermarket’s customers and the general public.

The parking garage will be the first phase of the redevelopment and is set to go up on the lot adjacent to the supermarket. The full project is expected to take two years to complete.

“We’re going to charge for parking because the cost of the structure is going to be high,” Loshusan said. “If you’re a Loshusan customer you’ll probably get a certain amount of time to park without being charged, but if you’re a customer from the outside, you will be charged.”

He added that the fees are still being worked out as the company needs to finalise construction costs before determining the return period and pricing model.

The project marks a rare, high-value retail reinvestment in a maturing commercial district now known more for congestion.

Loshusan declined to give a cost estimate for the redevelopment but told Sunday Finance that it will be funded through a mix of internal capital and bank financing. Further, he said the development will also be rebranded Loshusan, to reflect the legal name the business was changed to years ago.

“It’s a big project. We know our budget going in but during construction, things change,” he said. “You only get the final figures when it’s all done and everyone is paid.”

The planned expansion responds to both customer demand and physical constraints. Loshusan explained that the existing supermarket is too small for modern merchandising needs but any horizontal expansion would have cannibalised parking. After settling on a vertical expansion, the plans were submitted to the National Environment and Planning Authority and approvals received last year.

The larger store will carry an expanded range of products, particularly in beverages, frozen foods, meats and poultry — categories that outgrew the current location years ago. Loshusan said the supermarket chain currently employs about 125 people at New Kingston and expects to add another 30 to 50 workers once construction is complete.

“We will definitely have a larger variety of beverages because that area tends to do very well with beverages, and probably a larger selection of brews…And then also just larger displays of our meats, poultry and pork departments,” he said.

As for the new food hall, Loshusan said it’s also a strategic addition inspired by the performance of Mezzanine, a restaurant currently housed on the upper floor of the John R Wong building. The new space will be street-facing and designed to accommodate multiple vendors, although tenancy discussions are still in early stages.

Meanwhile, the e-commerce drive-through speaks to shifting consumption patterns since the pandemic. Loshusan said the company is already servicing New Kingston customers from its Barbican location, and the expanded supermarket will simply make those operations more efficient.

“We are the only supermarket that’s currently offering direct e-commerce through our own website. We started during COVID and it’s grown since then,” he said. “With more residential units being built in the area, we’re expecting demand for delivery and pick-up services to increase.”

The redevelopment keeps the Loshusan supermarket count to two, which is a modest footprint in a market where several retail groups — including the Progressive Grocers Group in which the Loshusans are part owners — are scaling up.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie (right) engages with Loshusan Supermarket Chief Executive Officer Bruce Loshusan (left), and director of the business Laura Loshusan-Arce. Occasion was the breaking of ground for the Loshusan New Kingston supermarket.