The Amazonia Mall located at Providence on the East Bank of Demerara yesterday welcomed nine additional businesses to its new wing which was commissioned by mall owner, Ramnaresh Sarwan, former Guyana and West Indies cricketer.
The stores are: Madd Tea, SfihaWorld, Stuart Dental, CT Williams Technologies Inc, Trenoz, Physio Plus, Mandiis, Tashman, and Fab Flowers GY. Their offerings include clothing, food and drink, jewellery, floral gifts, dentistry, physiotherapy and Pilates.
The businesses will now be tenants in the new wing which is located on the lower level of the western side of the mall. Cutting the ribbon to commission the new area was Sarwan accompanied by the owners of the additional businesses. In his remarks at the ceremony, Sarwan noted that construction for new wing had started a year ago and it was supposed to be completed and opened for last Christmas. However this was not possible due to delays in the shipping of some of the building materials.
“About a year ago I think we started… initially we had wanted to open for the Christmas season but nevertheless we were able to get it to open timely… we have had some challenges with shipment and so forth but now we’re pretty pleased that we could’ve get it over with now”, he said.
When asked about the sum spent on the new wing, the former cricketer-turned-businessman responded that he doesn’t usually discuss the construction prices of the mall since to him it is irrelevant. However, he acknowledged that the amount spent was “substantial.”
“In all the projects that I’ve done here I’ve never really spoken about that because I don’t think that it’s relevant, but it was a substantial amount… to me what was more important is being able to provide jobs for people and their families and that is something that I’m very pleased with because I’ve represented this country in terms of sports and so on and people have given me so much in terms of support and this is my contribution to Guyana in terms of becoming more modernized”, he added.
While at the commissioning, the Sunday Stabroek spoke to some of the business owners who were a mix of Guyanese, Brazilians and Trinidadians. According to Dr Ricardo Stuart, who runs his now second family dental business known as Stuart Dental Clinic, his aim is to move ahead with providing dental services to persons as early as 10 am to as late as 7pm at the Amazonia Mall every day.
He disclosed that the business had been started by his father in 1996 with their first location being at Charlotte Street in Georgetown. Yesterday was the first day of business. He mentioned that the services being offered include whitening and polishing, implants and braces.
Meanwhile, a Brazilian national, Lucia (only name given) said that she saw the need for physiotherapy and Pilates classes in Guyana and decided to hop on the venture. Lucia, who is trained in both fields, also has a similar business in Brazil. She noted that her classes are for any age since many persons, both children and adults have been involved in accidents or strained various body parts. As such, her business helps to nurture those persons using daily exercise to have them moving again in the strongest way.
The Guyanese-owned businesses such as Trenoz, Mandiis and Tashman offer both clothing and accessories, while CT Williams sells electronics and offers technological services. Madd Tea sells a variety of Boba teas along with desserts. SfihaWorld sells strictly Brazilian desserts and cuisine, while Fab Flowers GY is a Trinidadian business that sells a variety of floral gifts mainly made from well preserved roses.
