December 2016 | Business View Caribbean

108 109 Sylvester continues. “For instance, we had to increase the size of our accounting depart- ment for more accountability as we were now part of a larger group and monthly reports and accounts had to be shared with our new head office.We were now better organized and had better guidance to where we were going, what we were doing, and how and where we could and needed to improve.” Last year, the company entered into yet an- other arrangement with another distribution network, when Goddard Enterprises and Agos- tini Limited of Trinidad combined their hold- ings and created a new joint venture called Caribbean Distribution Partners Ltd., which is now made up of Hanschell Inniss Limited of Barbados, Peter & Company Ltd. of St. Lucia, Coreas Distribution Ltd. of St. Vincent, Hand Arnold Trinidad Ltd., Facey Trading Ltd. of Barba- dos, Desinco Ltd. of Guyana, and Independence Agencies Ltd. of Grenada. “Agostini gained some of the products that we were carrying, and we gained some of the products Agostini was car- rying,” says Sylvester. “That gave us a little more clout and increased our inventory range. And, so far, that has been going well. It’s one of the reasons we are expanding our warehouse, right now, because we’ve run out of space, again.” PREFERRED VENDORS n Tropical Shipping www.tropical.com n Fonterra (Mexico) S.A. www.anchorfoodprofessionals.com INDEPENDENCE AGENCIES, LTD. Because of this recent merger, Syl- vester says that another one of his company’s projects has been put on temporary hold. “We purchased property with the intention to build a shopping plaza at Grenville, a northern location of the Island, where the plan was to have another cash-and-carry outlet, which will be a bit larger than the one we have right now, and lease out properties within the plaza to other retail outlets or commercial entities,” he states. “We still have those plans, but we haven’t done anything yet to start it, because, at present, we are focusing on the current expansion of our warehouse and office. Hopefully within the next five years or so, we might start our shopping plaza.” Meanwhile the small, family company that began with only three employees and one small van continues to grow and expand while still serving its many satisfied customers on the islands of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petit Martinique.