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Carmen Safeway to close
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Posted on Oct 23 2008
The most recent casualty of Saipan’s economic downturn is the popular grocery store Carmen Safeway, now poised to close in less than a month due to a decline in customers and rising operational costs.
At Carmen Safeway’s Chalan Kanoa store Thursday, staff were preparing for a sale—20 percent off on the store’s entire stock—in a bid to sell off its inventory. General manager Eli Maravilla said the closure, slated for Nov. 15, comes as the store is seeing fewer customers and a recent increase in utility rates is cutting into its profits.
“People just don’t have the money to shop like they once did,” he said.
Carmen Safeway opened in 2005, when its owners bought the store from a Japanese company. In its first few years, Maravilla said, business was good at the store, but with a decline in tourism and businesses throughout the Commonwealth facing economic hardship, the store has struggled recently to stay open. The store currently employs 21 people, according to Maravilla, most of them hired from the local community.
After Carmen Safeway closes, he added, it will begin selling its fixtures and other equipment unless any potential buyers express interest in the store.
Carmen Safeway is the second major shop on Saipan to announce its closure this week after the only branch of Blockbuster Video shut its doors on Wednesday, also selling off its stock.
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president James Arenovski said the stores were “two great companies that served the community well. It’s hard to see them go.”
Factors like “power costs, low sales and people leaving” the Commonwealth have affected many businesses but “now, other people will get those customers” who had shopped at them, he added.
