Sept. 12, 2003 – Virgin Islanders themselves were the deciding factor in bringing Home Depot to St. Thomas, Ricky Wardally, St. Thomas store manager, said on Friday.
Speaking at a St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Wardally said company officials first got the idea of expanding to the territory when they noticed "the millions of dollars of merchandise that was being carried out of the door" of its Puerto Rico stores by V.I. residents and, to a lesser degree, British Virgin Islanders.
The luncheon was held in conjunction with the chamber's Business Expo 2003 at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center. Wardally filled in as speaker for in the company's Atlanta-based corporate spokesman, Don Harrison, whose travel plans changed because of the threat of Hurricane Isabel.
It was the first public opportunity the St. Thomas business community had to learn more about the giant building supply retailer's planned operations on St. Thomas. The Source reported in 2000 that Home Depot had been scouting available properties on St. Thomas, but it was not until last November that the company confirmed it would open a St. Thomas outlet. That announcement said the store would open in December 2003. Wardally gave the date on Friday as Dec. 11.
There had been opposition to the store's presence before its plans were confirmed. Last August, a small group of business people banded together in an effort to fend off the big store's opening. (See "Home Depot is rumored; opposition is definite".)
Home Depot and other mammoth retail chains including Wal-Mart are known by various names, not all of them flattering: "big box" stores, or, in retail parlance, "category killers," behemoths that run over their smaller competitors.
Not so, said Wardally Friday. He said Home Depot is a good corporate citizen, and amid a multitude of questions, he described the store's hiring policies, wage structure and community commitment.
He said the company will pay its taxes in the Virgin Islands, something that has been a source of concern locally. As far as guidelines for community contributions, he said the store operates on a monthly budget, and applications for donations will be forwarded to the regional headquarters in Atlanta each month. He said contributions could consist of money or a "media card" good for merchandise at the store.
He said Home Depot's corporate commitments include a program for at-risk youth 12 to 18 years of age, environmental programs, affordable housing programs though neighborhood revitalization groups, disaster relief programs, workshops for youngsters and how-to clinics.
As far as store pricing, "yes, prices will be higher here than in the States," Wardally said, "but they will still be less than our competitors."
He said the local cost of living is factored into wages and that a starting cashier would make $7 per hour, with salaries ranging from there up to $20 an hour. The V.I. minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. "If we have an employee who has the expertise, we will pay for it," he said.
The company will hire about 120 employees, keeping the ratio of full-time and part-time workers at "close to 50-50," Wardally said, and even the part-time employees will get benefits. So far, five managers and 11 supervisors have been hired for the store, all of them local residents. "It's about 99 percent local," he said of the work force, adding with a smile: "I'm the one percent."
Wardally and his wife and three daughters moved to St. Thomas a couple of months ago to get settled before the opening, he said. He has been with the company for 10 years, managing two of the larger Home Depot stores in Brooklyn, New York, and Sunshine, Florida. He was born in Brooklyn but spent his first four years in Grenada before returning to New York.
The managerial employees are in Puerto Rico now getting training that will finish by Oct 5. Between Oct. l and the end of November, the company will hire sales associates for the massive store, which has 95,000 square feet of interior space plus a garden center outside covering another 10,000 square feet. The tan and orange structure adjacent to Market Square East looks from the outside as though it could open tomorrow.
Addressing the prevailing concern about competition, Wardally said Home Depot stores do not necessarily chase out smaller businesses. He said many small businesses have loyal customers who are "intimidated by the size of Home Depot," who don't want to make a change. "It's hard to take customers away," he said.
Also, he said, many smaller businesses "evolve. They find other products, other services which we don't carry." However, he added, should a smaller store go out of business, that store's employees could apply for positions at Home Depot, which would value their experience.
One hardware store owner in the audience expressed such concerns on a personal level. "We have 87 employees," he said. "I could retire tomorrow, but what about them? Would they get the same benefits we give them?"
St. Thomas has continued to support its older stores in recent years as two new superstores have joined the market mix. The 23,500-square-foot Office Max opened in February 1999, but The Draughting Shaft, its closest competitor, locally owned and doing business here for more than 20 years, is still thriving in Havensight. PriceSmart opened in May 2001, and Cost-U-Less, right up Weymouth-Rhymer Highway, is alive and well.
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