I was sorry to hear that Ferreteria Americana in Santo Domingo shut their doors permanently, we went there often. I understand Almacenes Unidos is taking over at least one of their locations. The owners blame Covid.
- Thread starter AlterEgo
- Start date
Ferreteria Americana Closed
The location in Santiago was built/ finished around the same time as the Ikea Outlet on 27 Feb
and they are both located in the same plaza however I don't believe that location ever actually
opened. Perhaps this was the reason.
Americana had been bought by a British chain in October 2020. They promised to restructure and revitalise the business. I guess they just couldn't see the numbers adding up at the end of the day.
They were the most expensive appliance store I'd ever been to in this country
when shopping living down in the Capital back in 2014.
I believe it. I sure didn't see many bargains there. I bought that toaster oven because I thought I couldn't get it for less and probably couldn't find that model elsewhere. I was wrong on both counts.
It does seem strange that a company bought them out during the pandemic - November 2020 - but then closed all the stores at the time when the pandemic is supposedly coming to an end. Especially a British DIY chain because the Brits were in lockdown from November until April and evidently DIY stores were making a fortune during this time.
I can only guess that they got it extremely cheap - it was losing money and all the stores were rented so very little assets. And when they took a long hard look at it they realised it was worthless.
I can only guess that they got it extremely cheap - it was losing money and all the stores were rented so very little assets. And when they took a long hard look at it they realised it was worthless.
When we built our master suite extension, they were our one-stop shop for the bathroom, all the fixtures. Vanity, lighting, toilet, on demand hot water heater, sink and shower faucets, even the mildew resistant paint. Nice European brands, good quality.
There was no British company that took over.
Same thing happened in late 2019 when rumors said it had been bought by Corripio.
The reason it closed its doors has everything to do with their lack of suppliers diversity. They imported about the majority of goods from China and the Asian region.
The increased shipping costs, along the major disruptions to delivery schedules, broke the camel’s back.
They tried to expand and make competition with Bellon and Ochoa in their respective markets.
They did it wrong, as their sales were dipping and that’s the worst time to increase expenses, much less expand.
The brand had value and went to waste due to poor judgement.
This niche market has a great potential for a major investor to create a supply industry for commercial tools and goods.
The answer lies in national manufacturing, as China supplied will continue to increase in cost and shipping is nowhere near coming to pre-pandemic values.
You can make custom power tools in the DR for a fraction of the cost of those in China.
China is only competitive when quantity is the drive behind a product’s output.
Just like Craftsman made a name by offering a lifetime warranty on tools, so too can a local manufacturer support an equal scheme and pull ahead.
Same thing happened in late 2019 when rumors said it had been bought by Corripio.
The reason it closed its doors has everything to do with their lack of suppliers diversity. They imported about the majority of goods from China and the Asian region.
The increased shipping costs, along the major disruptions to delivery schedules, broke the camel’s back.
They tried to expand and make competition with Bellon and Ochoa in their respective markets.
They did it wrong, as their sales were dipping and that’s the worst time to increase expenses, much less expand.
The brand had value and went to waste due to poor judgement.
This niche market has a great potential for a major investor to create a supply industry for commercial tools and goods.
The answer lies in national manufacturing, as China supplied will continue to increase in cost and shipping is nowhere near coming to pre-pandemic values.
You can make custom power tools in the DR for a fraction of the cost of those in China.
China is only competitive when quantity is the drive behind a product’s output.
Just like Craftsman made a name by offering a lifetime warranty on tools, so too can a local manufacturer support an equal scheme and pull ahead.
Why doesn't the DR have more of this type of manufacturing then?
Now you have to do two–stop shopping for the same things, one is Innova Centro on Kennedy con Tiradentes, and another one is Almacenes Unidos on Kennedy. On the positive side, both of them have prices much lower than Americana had.
The British company did not buy Ferreteria Americana . The owners are from Puerto Rico and did the large development which is now Galeria 360 and which is far more profitable than a hardware chain. They had been closing the less profitable stores one by one much to the chagrin of many people. Part of the F A old store in JFK is now called Max Ferreteria but it is very small in comparison.
Firma inglesa adquiere la Ferretería Americana, para reposicionarla - Proceso
“Nuestro primer paso es proceder a trabajar con un equipo de colaboradores actuales de la Ferretería Americana a fin de hacer la transición legal, financiera e inmobiliaria de la misma, una vez ejecutado este proceso se estará reintegrando en diferentes fases a los colaboradores”, indica la...
proceso.com.do
Ferreteria Americana pasa a manos de firma inglesa y será reestructurada
Santo Domingo. La Ferreteria Americana informó hoy que ha sido adquirida por una firma inglesa, la cual se ha comprometido con la restructuración y Ferreteria Americana pasa a manos de firma inglesa y será reestructurada
eldia.com.do
The second link includes the letter from Americana explaining it hat they had been sold to an English company.
I posted links above which include letters which say that the British company did buy Americana. What is your evidence that they didn't?
There's quite a thorough presentation here in English which was done in 2012 and goes through their history and thoughts on their future. According to this, the Garcia family is an Asturian family that moved to DR in the Spanish post-war, nothing to do with Puerto Rico. This family was the family that did the Galeria 360 development and the presentation explains what other brands they have licences for. It's interesting to see how strong it was in its heyday - I remember it was very good in about 2012/13, but then seemed to go downhill reasonably rapidly.
https://prezi.com/hq1ewel4czm7/americana-departamentos/
https://prezi.com/hq1ewel4czm7/americana-departamentos/
Maybe you should ask the Garcia Crespo family about their problems with a sale to an unknown English company ,their inability to pay hundreds of their staff more than 8 months after an alleged sale and their current financial situation. I can not tell you precisely why the sale and the reconstruction did not go ahead as per a whatsapp message to the press . Many a slip between the cup and the lip .
Greed…
It’s easier for the sectors to import goods for short term gains than to invest large sums of capital for long term returns.
The concept of long term capital investments is something very few Dominican investors can handle. Quick returns of capital invested is heavily favored here.
I faced this dilemma on an investment centered around a recycling venture here. It was hard to get the other investors to support long term capital projects. End it up invest/expand/re-invest/expand cycling…
The supply and shipping issues has caused havoc on these short term expansion cycles.
Big learning experience…