OfficeMax, the office products mega-store, opened Thursday in St. Thomas. The arrival of the 23,500-square-foot superstore is a sign to many of strong economic health but others say it could portend financial disaster for smaller St. Thomas stores.
OfficeMax is the second major business to open on the island this week. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico opened its new Altona headquarters Tuesday.
OfficeMax, located next to Tutu Park Mall, is part of the Cleveland-based office products chain that has 841 superstores in 361 markets in 49 states, according to the Daily News. Six of those stores have opened in Puerto Rico since January 1994.
OfficeMax offers office supplies, furniture, computers, business machines and other products at discounted prices.
Many in St. Thomas see OfficeMax's opening as a positive economic sign. Others worry about what it will do to small local businesses.
Four of them have taken a pro-active approach. The Computer Store, Draughting Shaft, Ackley Communications and Spenceley Office Equipment have formed an alliance to offer one-stop services to the community.
"You'll be able to go to one place for all of your office needs and your internet connection," said Carlos Shafran of the Computer Place at Nisky Center.
Terry Robinson, owner of Draughting Shaft, said, "We know not to try and compete on price, but we can compete on service."
Robinson, who just completed the custom design and office coordination for the new 45,000-square-foot Banco Popular building, said a lot of people don't know that his firm offers design service to its clients.
"You can go out and buy a fax machine, but when you get it back to the office, you need something to put it on," he said.
That is a small example of what the four businesses see as the benefits a full-service alliance could offer.
The consortium that Safran referred to as "Total Office Solutions" is looking for a location for its holistic operation. The Spenceley building, site of the old V.I. Telephone Corp. office on the waterfront, might be the place, according to Shafran and Robinson.
Richard Spenceley was off-island and unavailable for comment.
Robinson pointed to the combined 100 years of experience the four members of the alliance have in the Virgin Islands as their advantage.
"We also have to diversify," he said.
They are considering opening a cyber cafe at Havensight and they are building a web site where people will be able to order on-line.
Steve Baisden, corporate communications officer for OfficeMax, said St. Thomas is ideal for his company because there are no other superstores here such as Staples or Office Depot and "we see it as a growth area," the Daily News story said.
The company intends to use St. Thomas as a "springboard" for expansion into other Caribbean markets.
Baisden said OfficeMax made a $500,000 investment at the Tutu location.