The new $7 million Automotive Industrial Distributors (AID) building is scheduled to reopen in April 2013, Guardian Business can confirm. Jason Watson, the company's vice president of operations, told Guardian Business that excellent progress has been made on the building's reconstruction. The new structure is estimated to be much bigger and more energy efficient. "Construction has been going very well, and as it stands, it's on schedule. We expect to open April 2013. So far, we have been making excellent progress," according to Watson.
He added: "The new building will be much more energy efficient than the previous building. It's going to have an R rating of 40 and a very high solar reflective index. The retail space is going to be approximately 15 percent larger. There is going to be 27,000 square feet of pure retail space. The ceilings are going to be 20 feet high throughout the building." It was in June 2011 when a fire gutted the AID auto parts and home supply store on Wulff Road, destroying millions of dollars worth of property.
The blaze reportedly started in the warehouse section of the store and caused alarm in the Wulff Road area after it came dangerously close to the Shell gas station next door. Despite the fire, Watson noted that business at AID has been doing well overall, as it kept most of its staff, while experiencing growth in certain areas. In fact, once the new building is opened for business, he expects that staffing numbers will increase in order to meet the demands of its customers. "Despite the fire, business has been doing well.
We are doing over 90 percent of our previous sales in 2011. Up until the fire, business was very good. So, we are encouraged with what we have been seeing," Watson explained. "Before the fire, we had 77 working at the Wulff Road location. And right now we have about 72. We are almost back to where we were before the fire. Once the building is open, we expect to have about 85 persons working here and since we are remaining open at the Mall at Marathon, there will be another 8-10 people."
He confirmed to Guardian Business the housewares and parts section of the business has been doing exceptionally well, with a more than 10 percent increase in sales. "Well, housewares have been doing very well. What a lot of people don't realize is that the parts section of our business was doing very well for us. Both were increasing by about 15 percent that year and when you walk into the store, you see housewares and the large assortment of bath and bed items. We are doing very well in those areas. That's why we have decided to remain open in the mall as well," Watson shared.
The AID executive said it is costing the company $5 million to construct and an additional $2 million for the interior, totaling $7 million, but it's an investment he believes will be beneficial in the long run. "There is a lot of pressure on AID to increase its prices because of the cost that we are experiencing. But for right now, we are going to keep those prices as low as possible. Hopefully, when we move into this building, the productivity will be able to help us to maintain our current pricing because we recognize it's really difficult for a Bahamian consumer right now," Watson added. "We hope to move into this building as quickly as possible. We are going to continue to push out our sales and to see what we can do to raise the standard of living for all Bahamians."
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