30,000sq ft Pennywise opens in La Romaine

The 30,000 square foot store is the eighth Pennywise in Trinidad; there are none in Tobago .

It features prominently in Pennywise Plaza, located at the corner of La Bel Air Road and South Trunk Road, La Romaine .

At the store’s grand opening yesterday (Monday) morning, Pennywise Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dalvi Paladee, told reporters the company chose to relocate to their own plaza because “at no location, in any mall, can we get this amount of space.” “To have 30,000 square feet and the luxury of a shopping cart in a Pennywise store, it’s something that we want to (replicate in our other stores) as we go along. This store has about 160 staff. We employ about 850 total .

We don’t have any stores in Tobago yet because we’re still trying to get our footprint correct here (Trinidad).” The plaza was originally scheduled to open one year ago but, as Paladee explained, it ended up taking three years “because we had to get the infrastructure ready and the planning, of course, for such a magnificent building, it takes time to get it right.” The layout includes shopping carts, wide aisles, a pharmacy and fewer items kept behind a counter. Paladee said management decided to have more self-service displays “because with so many people buying,” continuing to have sales staff provide one-onone service had become “a challenge.” “But now, with the ability of the customer to pick up products off the shelf, it’s going to enhance their experience.” The rest of the space in Pennywise Plaza is scheduled to be fully occupied within the next two months .

One of the lease holders plans to open a vegetarian restaurant .

Pennywise Plaza is open Mondays - Thursdays from 9 am to 7 pm and on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 am to 8 pm .