By JULIE ANNE INES
Los Angeles-based La Curacao, a sort of Kmart for Hispanic shoppers, is set to open its first Orange County store in Fountain Valley in early September.
In fact, La Curacao’s 105,000-square-foot store on Harbor Boulevard is taking the place of a former Big Kmart that closed in 2002.
The area’s growing number of Hispanics and the store’s location on the border with Santa Ana,the county’s Latino hub,make it “great for the business,” said Mike Falkenstein, La Curacao’s vice president of retail development.
The company expects the store to do “very, very well,” Falkenstein said, on par with its flagship store near downtown Los Angeles.
Upgrades to the store are under way. The company and the building’s landlord are spending an estimated $5 million to $10 million to fix up the site.
An advertising campaign also is under way, Falkenstein said. The company plans to advertise on TV, radio and via direct mail, he said.
Word of mouth will be key to reaching Hispanics in the area, according to Falkenstein. Some already may be familiar with the company’s stores in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino.
The Fountain Valley store, which is comparable in size to other La Curacaos, will be the company’s eighth. The shopping center includes a Smart & Final, Walgreens and several other smaller stores.
La Curacao, which does about $250 million in yearly sales, is a hit with Hispanics. An unlikely pair of founders, Israeli immigrants Jerry and Ron Azarkman, started the chain in 1981.
Last year, the venture capital arm of Citigroup Inc. took a 10% stake in La Curacao’s parent company, Adir International, as a way to tap the growing Hispanic retail sector.
La Curacao has a thriving credit business, often setting up accounts for immigrants with no credit history. It has about 500,000 active cardholders who make up the bulk of sales at its stores.
The company offers credit to many who’d be turned down at other retailers. About 75% of applicants are approved using the company’s own credit scoring and interviews. For some applicants, their only form of identification are cards issued by the consulates of their home countries.
The company’s stores sell clothes, jewelry, toys, cosmetics, electronics and appliances. They also offer Internet and long-distance calling services.
Customers can ship products from the store’s catalog to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The Fountain Valley store has held two job fairs in the past month and expects to hire about 200 people, Falkenstein said.
In OC, La Curacao is set to compete with mainstream retailers as well as Corona-based La Canasta Furnishings Inc., which has stores in Santa Ana and Anaheim, and Mexico’s Grupo Famsa SA de CV, which runs a Santa Ana store.
La Curacao is looking to open another OC store, Falkenstein said.
The Fountain Valley site has sat empty for much of the past four years, according to Robert Franklin, a principal planner for the city.
Home Depot Inc. had planned a store at the site but ended up opening a store nearby in Huntington Beach. The Fountain Valley shopping center has four owners, which proved to be a roadblock to bringing in Home Depot, according to Franklin.
The city approved plans for a Home Depot. But the home improvement retailer nixed its plans after the owner of one building within the center declined to sell, he said.
The city is glad to have La Curacao, Franklin said. The only issue that came up with the store was with the proposed design of the outside of the building.
La Curacao had planned a Mayan temple design, like at its other stores. It had to be “toned down,” Franklin said, to match the rest of the area. The city signed off on La Curacao’s third design.
Officials hope La Curacao’s improvements will spur upgrades to nearby buildings in the aging shopping center, Franklin said.
