Baywalk Mall
Habib had already started spending less time at the office and more time thinking instead of how to put more of the family’s money to work in even better places. But the transition -- from the main family business outlet on upper Micoud Street (where Maher originally bought old wooden buildings only to demolish them and construct modern masterpieces in their place) to the magnificent majesty of the Baywalk Mall -- represents more than just the most major facelift Rodney Bay has seen. It also represents the surest sign of confidence any local business can have in doing business in St. Lucia for the future. Indeed, Maher takes every opportunity to tell how “I received perfect support from two successive governments, first Labour under Kenny Anthony and then UWP under Stephenson King, to get this
project going, and none of them let me down.” The 5-floor mall, standing majestically over and enveloping 380,000 square feet of the most prime property in that section of Rodney Bay, features apartments, restaurants and stores, as well as the island’s first casino. Baywalk Mall graces the entry to the most quickly developing section of the fastest developing, ever-growing northern part of the island: home to hotels, yachts, banks -- and now to the largest shopping mall in the entire OECS. The largest investment by a single St. Lucian family, the Baywalk Mall at Rodney Bay represents the continuing demonstration, in the biggest ways possible, by the Chreiki family, of its confidence in the Government and people of St. Lucia, in the local business environment, in the loyalty of
customers and in a guaranteed return on their investments due to the very nature of their family approach to business. Like all other descendants of other nationalities who have settled here and grown with the local business community (Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, etc) these 100% St. Lucians with Arab trading blood in their veins never fail, to give solidarity, to help others the best they can, and to commune as leaves on one branch of a small tree in a large forest. That, perhaps, is the best-kept secret of the Chreiki family success, the results of which are best seen in the magnificent monument at the entrance to the heart of Rodney Bay, which has significantly and permanently transformed the landscape of that art of St. Lucia.
BusinessFocus May / June
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