Boulevard Supercenter

BOULEVARD SUPERCENTRE Graham: “The original Lee family business, Lee’s Food Fair and Pharmacy has been in operation since 1962 at a location not far from the Bou- levard Supercentre.When they developed the Supercentre, they anchored it with a Food Fair and Pharmacy, and today that’s one of the ma- jor businesses in the mall. Our company, Bevad, provides property management services to the mall. People employed in that capacity– janitors, custodians, and property management supervi- sors – together we are about 25 to 30 employees. But those are separate from direct employees of the Supercentre store units. “Most of the businesses are local, some have been around for a long time and are household names in Jamaica, for example, Courts, a regional superpower and one of the first anchor tenants. They started out with mainly furniture but have now expanded to a wide sweep of products. The mall also has several well-known restaurants and food chains: KFC, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Island Grill (a Jamaican company that caters to a healthier Jamaican cuisine), and a little food court with smaller restaurants, including a Jamai- can eatery, and another offering Chinese Food, a health juice bar, and an ice cream store.” BVC: How do you compare to competitors in the retail sector? Graham: “When we look at the diversity of the stores at the Boulevard Supercentre, I would have to say there is no comparison in Jamaica in terms of the range of services and products. The vast majority of the tenant businesses have been in June 2002 by the Lee family, who actively operate several island businesses together. Working with one of Jamaica’s foremost ar- chitects, Brian Morris, from Plexus Architects, they transformed the existing building into a full-scale shopping mall. Most of the stores are in the building, itself, but there are also a few free-standing units on the property.What exists today is a complex with over 125,000 square feet of rentable space. That presently translates into just under 40 businesses of varying sizes. In 2006, The Lees brought a well-respected, homegrown Jamaican service company, Bevad Management Services, on board as property managers. Until that point, the owners were trying to manage it themselves, and ultimately recognized the need to bring in professional assistance. Business View Caribbean asked Tracey Graham, Property Managing Director for Bevad Management Services Ltd., for an overview of the Boulevard Supercentre, and her company’s role in its operations. Here is an edited transcript of that conversation: BVC: Can you give us some background on the Boulevard Supercentre and the businesses located there?