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(Top) The first store founded in 1930 in Punda, Willemstad, Curaçao. (Bottom) One of the Boolchand stores located in the Caribbean |
CARIBBEAN. Family-owned Boolchand Group is celebrating its 75th anniversary in Caribbean travel retail this month.
Ram Boolchand Nandwani, the fourth-generation Chairman, is celebrating recent milestones, including the opening of a store on the island of St Kitts and last year’s opening of a shop at the new cruiseship terminal in Philipsburg, St Maarten in addition to its flagship store at Philipsburg’s Front Street.
Ram Boolchand attributes the longevity of his business to “great products, best quality, most competitive prices, professional sales staff and excellent customer service”.
The picture shows the Boolchand store at the corner of Bredenstraat and Heerenstraat in downtown Willemstad, the first store opened in Curacao in 1930.
About the Boolchand Group
The Boolchand family was established in Curaçao in 1930. Boolchand Pessoomal, with his small savings as an employee in his uncle’s business in Colon, Panama, travelled to Curaçao in the late 1920s and opened a small store selling Oriental gifts, ivory carvings and silk kimonos, which were popular with tourists. When he informed his family in India about his new venture, nobody knew where Willemstad, Curaçao was located on the map. They had to go to the Post Office and seek their help.
Today Boolchand’s has operations on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands and St Kitts. The firm spans a retail chain of 12 stores, a distribution centre in the Free Zone of Curaçao and an e-commerce website.
Boolchand stores are well known in the Caribbean for their wide selection of brand name products in cameras, consumer electronics, computers, watches and fine jewellery. Leading brands include Braun, Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Yamaha, Bose, Bang & Olufsen, HP, Epson, Apple, BenQ, Movado, Concord, Fendi, Guess, Nike and Citizen.
For details, contact Ram Boolchand at ram@boolchand.com. Visit www.boolchand.com
