Jan. 4, 2007 — Sunny Isle merchants have a new neighbor. Although Office Max's grand opening isn't scheduled until Jan. 21, the office supply store has already opened its doors to St. Croix residents.
St. Croix's Office Max is different from others in the Caribbean, said store manager Rafael Rivera. The "advanced" layout puts office supplies on either side of the store with electronics in the center and furniture in the rear. The store does not have large cumbersome shelving — instead customers will experience a streamlined atmosphere akin to mainland stores.
Many residents are excited about the convenience of having a store of this caliber on St. Croix because it decreases the need to shop online for hard-to-find office needs. "It's easier to walk into the store than to order online," said customer Eric Chancellor. "The things I ordered online haven't come yet."
Milling through the store with their short black shopping carts in front of them, customers seemed pleased with the layout of the store and prices of the merchandise. Brenda Isherwood said she was looking at office furniture. "I'd rather go into the store because sometimes we have to have things in a hurry, and when that happens you end up paying a lot." Isherwood said she would be frequenting the store because "the prices on furniture are really good."
Residents are used to purchases on island being more expensive than the mainland, yet patrons of Office Max say the pricing is fair. Lt. Mary Duggan came into the store to check the pricing. Duggan said, even "factoring in shipping" the cost of merchandise seems to be "reasonable." Fellow shopper Mervin George was surprised at how good the prices were. "I hope they keep it like that," he said.
Since the regional headquarters is in Puerto Rico, Rivera said there has been a little delay with the receipt of merchandise because of the time it takes to ship product into the island. There was also an initial problem with the system, but none of this stopped customers from receiving quality customer service. Duggan gave kudos to the store's customer service. "We were looking for someone to help us," she said, "and someone came and asked us if we needed any help and took care of us."
Lystra Bishop had such a satisfying experience with the new store she sought out Rivera to personally thank him for handling her problem. "On Saturday I purchased a computer [for one amount] and saw it five days later [for less]," she explained. Bishop said she came into the store and was immediately taken care of to her satisfaction.
Customers are able to access the store's computers to order merchandise not in stock, record their individual customer satisfaction or apply for an open position. Rivera said the store currently employs 25 full- and part-time workers but is looking for at least 25 more.
The addition of Office Max is another tier in the plans for improving the Sunny Isle Shopping Center. Owners Lorraine Carrady and her partner firm, Houlihan & Parnes, recently purchased the strip mall from the deChabert family — which has owned the center since its inception – – and reintroduced the shopping center to the community (See "Sunny Isles Ribbon Cutting Reveals World of Improvements").
Still scheduled to move into the center are the Medicine Shop, Champs Sports and an indoor food court.
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