Finally gone halfway public...
something that's been in the works for a very long time

North West Co... (Cdns) looks to be in serious negotiations with Riteway
NWC also owns Cost-U-Less...

Hope they understand operating on Tortola, might be a tad different

There is already some static about selling out to the furriners and want someone locl to buy it. Maybe one of the ferry companies. They know how to run a big organization. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

yup, and the first thing they will do, is make the prosperous greenhouse a subsidiary

I can't think of a better outcome than for CostULess to buy out Riteway. They have an international distribution network and a lot more clout to negotiate with vendors than RTW does.

They have been agressively looking at a Caribbean expansion before the French Carrefour chain locks up the market. They have a store on STT and I believe they have a store going up on Barbados.

Glenn,

"Maybe one of the ferry companies. They know how to run a big organization."
That's funny and made me think of several scenarios including hours of operation, provisioning, etc.
Fred

While living in Toronto for 10 years I came to know the Northwest Companies and a number of their senior people back in the 90's. I also worked in retailing in Canada and I will say that the Northwest Company was a very well respected business. They had developed very strong capabilities when it comes to operating general merchandise retail businesses in very remote locations. Think.. the Yukon, Northwest Territories and other remote communities. I would suggest that they could have some key capabilites that would help Riteway and the folks who shop there.

Yeah, but dealing with immigration and labor dept nuances - may prove "interesting". They are in no place where the bureaucracy intervenes as here

Very good point. Although Canada is certainly no easy place to do business as it relates to immigration and employment laws. It is certainly not like the right to work states in the US. In my experience Canada has some of the most protective employment laws I have ever experienced. I will give a quick example. We had a store manager who admitted to stealing from the store. Because he had been with the company for many years the judge ruled that we still had to pay severance because what he had stolen did not offset all the years of service he had given the company. It was appealed and we lost and had to pay severance to someone who stole from his employer. Now that is tough labour law.

Well, at least they are nice polite Canadians. A typical US chain exec wouldn't last a week. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Yes, this is all very nice....but will they have Carib in bottles in 4 weeks? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

Canadians eh? Well at least we can finally get some great back-bacon (what you Yanks like to call Canadian-bacon) and cheese curds in da islands!

If they do Bridget, save some for me, we'll be there in 6 weeks, lol

Maybe a good peameal sandwich?

Carib in BOTTLES? No glass on our boat, cans are a much safer way to go around bare feets.