Khemlani Mart, Tropical Plaza.

ALMOST THREE years after its opening, Khemlani Mart store in Tropical Plaza, St Andrew, is now being closed, the owner has disclosed. The phased closure should be completed within the next three weeks.

It is not clear why the owner, Steve Khemlani, is closing the store. Calls made and messages left at his office were not returned. However, checks made by Wednesday Business revealed that business in that plaza has been slow.

According to a spokesperson from Answers For Children, which is located next door to the Khemlani Mart store, business has been very slow.

"People just don't have the money," said the spokesperson who requested anonymity, while indicating that sales had "dropped severely" by about 30 per cent.

Khemlani had rented the 15,000 square feet shopping space, where GraceKennedy's Hi-Lo supermarket chain was previously located.

Closing down sale

For the past two weeks, Khemlani Mart in Tropical Plaza has been advertising a closing down sale in the print media, with the company offering up to a 50 per cent reduction in prices. This store mostly sold houseware and furniture.

Khemlani owns a clutch of shops in the family-controlled Manor Centre in the Constant Spring area of St Andrew, and also has stores in downtown Kingston, Montego Bay and Portmore. The Portmore store was opened about the same time as the Tropical Plaza store.

Khemlani had spent $100 million on a stand-alone building next to the MegaMart store in Portmore. That 25,000-square foot building was expected to sell a range of products including clothing.

Just last month, Super Plus, one of the largest supermarket chains in the island, also shuttered two of its St Andrew stores due to what the company said was fallen sales in those two branches. Some 89 workers were affected by the closures.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com