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Dolphin to shut down grocery, expand dep’t store
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Posted on Aug 16 2004
Dolphin Wholesale said it will be phasing out its grocery section as part of plans to expand its department store component to accommodate more furniture stocks in the entire business premises in San Jose.
The store, one of the biggest on Saipan, has begun the phase out of the store’s grocery section and it is expected to be completed once food stocks run out, possibly by Oct. 1.
Since Friday, the scores of discount tags posted on many food items at the Dolphin triggered speculations among patrons that the store would shut down operations. The discount rates range from approximately 20- to 50-percent.
“Customers flooded the store when the discount sale started,” said a cashier at Dolphin. “There were customers who claimed hearing about rumors that Dolphin would close down.”
Beginning last week, Dolphin also reduced daily store hours by an hour. The store still regularly opens at 8am, but closing time is now 11pm—instead of 12 midnight.
“We will close the food department,” confirmed Dolphin’s management. “We’ll stop selling all kinds of food and vegetables.”
The management said that the target date for the store’s redirection to concentrate on its furniture and department store is Oct. 1, but the date might vary. If food stocks remain available, the grocery would continue its operations until before Christmas.
Saipan Dolphin Corp., the company operating Dolphin, said the decision to phase out the food department was due to the highly competitive market, with the proliferation of grocery stores on the island. Dolphin is located across the San Jose Mart, another major grocery store that operates 24 hours daily.
The management said, though, that the business remains profitable, disclosing that the furniture section has been performing positively.
When the grocery section is phased out, Dolphin will strictly become a department store.
