The last TST shop at Boroko. FILE PICTURE
By: Esther Gahane
The TST supermarket group will close its final Boroko shop this Sunday after operating for over four decades.
The Chief Executive officer of Tan Investment Jessica Crowley said this is due to high inflation, product accessibility, limited forex and unregulated competition.
The company relies heavily on imports and with rising inflation, problems with product accessibility, limited forex and unregulated competition, they cannot continue operating.
The Supermarket is closing the doors on retailing, but will be exploring other avenues of business within the property sector. They have leased out the premises but couldn’t disclose to who.
Ms Crowley said the family grew the company from one trade store, to multiple supermarkets, a property portfolio, wholesale outlets and many other businesses over the course of 4 decades.
Unfortunately, due to a mix of personal, environmental and economic factors, they’ve to scale back over time.
She said the saddest part about closing their doors is knowing that they have been trading in PNG for many years and TST is one of the first mini supermarkets along with Papindo, Andersons and SVS.
The supermarket is conducting its final week of sales of up to 75% of prices . The Boroko store is the final outlet and will closE its doors this coming Sunday.
