Essequibo Coast residents will soon be able to shop in style with the opening of a $400M five-storey mall at the Charity market square.
During a recent visit to Charity, the imposing multi-million-dollar facility towered over nearby structures. The finishing touches are being applied, and the mall is expected to be completed and opened for business next month-end.
Proprietor Alfro Alphonso told Stabroek News that he hopes government regularizes the Charity market area to facilitate the opening, since a number of stalls and vendors are situated in front of the mall.
Alphonso, who is also the founder of Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise which will manage the mall, noted that the mall aims to have everything under one roof. The facility boasts more than five departments that will offer food, furniture, electrical appliances, hardware, entertainment, agricultural and other farming supplies and equipment as well as a document centre and other services.
The entrance will be on the ground floor, a supermarket on the first floor, a hardware department on the second floor, major household electrical appliances on the third floor and furniture on the fourth floor. Entertain-ment will be provided on the fifth floor, which will include a roof garden that will be partly covered. The mall is also expected to have a restaurant as well as a clothing and shoe stores.
Alphonso likens the venture to the Fogarty’s supermarket in Georgetown. He said his structure will provide a similar service to Charity residents. The businessman also said the Essequibo Coast is now developing and there are many business opportunities that persons can invest in.
Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise also plans to extend its cold storage facility at Charity.
It stores fish the company processes at its plant at Charity. The plant’s current storage capacity is 100,000lbs and renovations to the facility will allow it to store an additional 200,000lbs of fish. The company exports filleted fish to the Caribbean and the United States. It also owns an ice factory that supplies fishermen.
Alphonso’s company also owns RCA TV Channel 8, A&S General Store, Xenon Hotel, a gas station, Pomeroon Oil Mills and a number of mining operations. Alphonso has over 30 years in the gold mining industry and is known as one of the nation’s leading gold producers in the medium-scale category.