By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

AUTOMOTIVE & Industrial Distributors (AID) has seen a 10 per cent year-over-year sales increase for 2013 to-date, a senior executive yesterday telling Tribune Business it hoped to open its new $7.5 million Wulff Road headquarters next month.

Jason Watson, AID’s vice-president of operations, said the provisional August 19 opening hinged on the company receiving the necessary Government approvals in time.

He added that the new store will be open for longer, and also on Sundays. “We will be opening with longer hours, 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 6pm on Sunday,” Mr Watson said.

“We weren’t open on Sunday at all previously. In terms of having the building completed, merchandising, getting our IT infrastructure in, everything will be completed by that date. It’s just a matter of whether we get the approvals that are necessary to open.”

Mr Watson added: “Customer traffic has been very good. Sales have been very strong in Nassau. Right at this point now, we are about 10 per cent higher than we were last year.

“Last year we almost set a sales record, and this year we should set a new record regardless of the new store opening.”
 AID’s original outlet on Wulff Road was completely destroyed by fire in June 2011, after which the company split its operations between a store at the Mall at Marathon and Mackey Street.

“We have all the inventory we need,” Mr Watson said. “Everything is pretty much ready to go. Once we open our doors, customers will come into a fully merchandised store. We added some staff earlier when we were hoping to open at an earlier date.

“Until we move in again I don’t think we are going to hire more than probably four additional persons. We’re in the final stages right now, taking care of a lot of odds and ends. The floor is almost complete, the air condition system is installed, and once everything is done then we will get a better idea of how many people we will hire, but right now we can open with the staff that we have.”