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Asserting that they areextremely competitive and that there is no need to allow foreignclub-format stores here, local merchants and ...
Supermarkets Close Ranks
Governmenthas been requested not to allow any foreign club-format storesto set-up in the Cayman Islands. The exhortation came from Mr.David Foster, OBE, owner and director of Foster's Food Fair, whosaid that such a move would "fragment an already small market".
Mr. DavidFoster, OBE
Mr. Foster's comments came at a time reportsare rife about a club-format store from the west coast of theUnited States, has expressed interest in coming to Cayman.
Cayman Net News was informed that officialsfrom the store (which has already penetrated the Caribbean market,with outlets in St. Martin, St. Thomas, Curacao and St. Croix),first initiated contact with Cayman about a year ago and had follow-uptalks as recent as March.
In an interview with Cayman Net News, Mr.Foster, owner of the largest supermarket chain in Cayman, saidhe was not in favour of the foreign club-format stores cominghere.
He said: "We have invested a massiveamount of money in this country and in view, it certainly wouldnot be fair or in the best interest of this country to allow foreignentities like these club-format stores to come in here and doas they want. In the final analysis, the government and localpeople will be the losers."
Mr. Foster noted that Cayman had three majorsupermarket chains (Foster's, Kirk's and Hurley's) with at leastseven branches which were adequate for the country. He said theywere substantial contributors to the Cayman Islands' economy andthat other stores would be provided, as long as the people ofthe Cayman Islands were willing for them to be built in theirdistricts and the economy was ready for them.
"Against that background, I firmlybelieve that if overseas competition comes into Cayman, the localmerchants should join forces and fight against them," Mr.Foster added. "This is not a matter related only to the supermarketindustry but every category that local merchants are able andwilling to handle properly."
Mr. Foster, a former president of the CaymanIslands Chamber of Commerce, said the record would show that supermarketsin Cayman, despite the customs duties which they pay, still werevery competitive and the state of the supermarket industry was"fairly healthy".
When contacted on the matter, Mr. CharlieKirkconnell of Kirks, told Cayman Net News: "It does seemthat the market is pretty well saturated with supermarkets."
Meantime, Mr. Foster said he would liketo make it clear that they are not against franchises in whichthe local merchant has the true control.
"For example, we have Avis rent-a-carfranchise, but the company and all 350-plus cars are totally ownedby Steve and David Foster," he said.
Up to Press time, Cayman Net News was unableto ascertain whether any application was submitted to the Tradeand Business Licence Board for a new supermarket operation.