Andrew Gioannetti
WHEN the doors of Standard Distributors closed for the last time this month, it signalled more than the end of an era – it captured the slow unravelling of a once-dominant retail model.
And just as its shutters came down, another sign went up: American Stores, a family-run rival that has outlasted most of its peers, opened a new branch in Arima.
The two moments – one exit, one expansion – highlight the crossroads facing TT’s home-furnishings and electronics market.
Traditional furniture and appliance chains, long anchored in credit-based, walk-in sales, are struggling to keep pace with online competitors, squeezed margins and shifting consumer habits.
The Ansa McAL Group confirmed on November 3 that it had sold Standard Distributors Ltd and its Barbados subsidiary to Term Finance (TT) Ltd, the local arm of TT-based regional fintech Term Finance Holdings.
Ansa McAL’s head of marketing and external communications, Sarah Inglefield, told Business Day the sale followed a careful review of Standard’s operations and long-term role within the group.
“The decision supports Ansa McAL’s commitment to aligning its portfolio with strategic growth priorities,” she said.
“It ensures that the Standard name and customer relationships will continue under a sustainable model.”
Standard’s retail outlets officially closed on November 1, ending decades of showrooms that once dominated household shopping in TT.
The new owners will rebrand the business as Standard Credit, transforming it into a credit and e-commerce provider.
Inglefield said the divestment was not a reaction to short-term financial results but part of the group’s 2X Strategic Agenda, focused on growth through targeted investments.
“This allows the group to focus resources on high-growth sectors and opportunities across the region,” she said.
She also acknowledged that demand for appliances and small electronics has weakened over the past year as inflation and higher living costs reshape spending habits.
“Consumers are prioritising essential expenses and stretching the use of existing appliances,” she added.
“More shoppers are comparing prices online or turning to digital financing options instead of traditional retail models.”
Standard’s rebirth as Standard Credit
The acquisition, Term Finance says, represents a leap from digital lending into physical presence.
Founded in 2013 and majority-owned by PointWest Capital, with First Citizens Bank holding a minority stake, Term Finance offers payroll-deducted loans and online consumer credit across the Caribbean.
Founder and CEO Oliver Sabga said Standard’s 80-year legacy made it an ideal platform to bring Term Finance’s services “to the high street.”
“We’ve been providing loans for over a decade to employees in our payroll deduction network,” he said.
“This acquisition allows us to lend directly to any citizen of TT who meets our credit assessment.”
Sabga described the deal as a pivot from hire purchase to modern, tech-enabled lending.
“Through this acquisition, we’ve inherited not only the brand and customer relationships but also valuable data and underwriting expertise,” he said.
“We’re building on Standard’s legacy of trust while introducing flexible, technology-driven credit solutions that meet today’s consumer needs.”
Standard Credit will use Term Finance’s proprietary credit-assessment systems and digital infrastructure to make borrowing faster and more transparent.
“Customers can expect faster approvals, smarter credit products, and more accessible financing,” Sabga said.
“Evolving the Standard brand to Standard Credit is our way of telling the market that Term Finance is coming to the high street.”
Standard Distributor’s exit closes a lengthy chapter in local retail history.
Founded in 1945 and absorbed into the Ansa McAL group in 1967, the company became a fixture of TT homes, its name synonymous with hire purchase and household credit.
Group CEO Anthony N Sabga III described it as “an extraordinary chapter” in the conglomerate’s story, praising generations of staff who helped shape “lives and homes across TT and Barbados.”
Standard’s disappearance, for some, exemplifies the harsh realities of brick-and-mortar retail – shrinking margins, volatile shipping costs and fierce price competition from global online platforms.
For others, including American Stores COO Tana de Freitas, it signals a new opening.
American Stores reclaims lost ground
Around the time of the sale announcement, American Stores Ltd opened its newest branch at the corner of Prince Street and El Carmen Street, Arima, reclaiming ground it once held nearby on Queen Street.
The 75-year-old company, founded by Sheik Sajjard Hosein in 1950, with his wife Dora, has survived every retail shift since the post-war furniture boom.
Hosein, a resourceful entrepreneur, began by buying used furniture from departing American soldiers, refurbishing and reselling it in Port of Spain.
Today, his grandchildren, de Freitas and her brother Amir Maybodi (CEO), lead the company, which operates four branches – in Arima, St James, Point Fortin, and Tobago – and employs about 65 people.
The new Arima location replaces a smaller, congested site and offers expanded parking and floor space.
“It’s close enough to the city centre,” de Freitas said, “but without the congestion.”
The reopening marks a resurgence after years of contraction.
At its peak around 2013, American Stores had 13 branches, including a foray into Guyana.
Between 2020 and 2024, under different management, more than ten outlets closed.
That changed when Maybodi bought back full ownership in 2024.
“Our goal is to build back the brand,” de Freitas said.
“It’s a very old, very known brand, and during that period of change, a lot of people thought American Stores was closing down. Some still do. This opening is a way to show we’re not.”
Their next targets include reopening in several former strongholds.
“We were supposed to open one in December,” de Freitas said. “But I don’t want to share too many details right now.”
While many retailers cite online competition as their biggest threat, de Freitas points instead to smaller domestic stores and non-traditional entrants – groceries now selling appliances among them.
“You now see other types of stores, like groceries, offering the same items,” she said.
“There’s been an explosion of smaller stores doing the same thing.”
American Stores maintains an e-commerce platform, though online sales account for about ten per cent of total revenue.
The site complements rather than replaces in-store sales.
The greater challenge, de Freitas said, comes primarily from foreign exchange shortages and sometimes shipping costs.
“We import from China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia,” she said. “So it does limit us, not having that access to foreign currency.”
Despite these pressures, she believes the company’s family ownership offers agility and commitment that larger corporate retailers can’t match.
“Because we are a family-owned company, third generation, we tend to operate that way,” she said.
“Our customers tell us we go the extra mile because we’re not working for somebody else – this is our own.”
One closes, another opens
While an old corporate giant has bowed, a legacy family business is rebuilding from within.
As Ansa McAL suggested, the divestment fits a larger pivot toward high-growth sectors and capital efficiency.
For the Maybodi-de Freitas siblings, the expansion is personal: a reclamation of their grandfather’s vision and a bet that loyalty and service can still win customers in an increasingly digital market.
Sabga (Oliver) sees that as an opening rather than a threat.
“Standard Credit will give them the flexibility to buy wherever they get the best deal,” he said.
And de Freitas sees something else entirely.
“When you look at something like Standard closing after 80 years, you kind of say, wow,” she said.
“It’s a reminder of how hard it is to run a business like this without a big group behind you. But it’s also an opportunity – to gain more market share, and to prove that family businesses can still grow.”
With Standard’s signs coming down and American Stores going up, the furniture and appliance trade may look volatile, but its fight to stay relevant is evidently far from over.
– With reporting by Mya Quamie.
