La Curacao
Encyclopedia
La Curacao is a southwestern
retailer that serves the Hispanic
market. The retailer has nine stores in Southern California
and one in Phoenix
. La Curacao ranks among the top 100 consumer electronics retailers in the U.S. La Curacao also sells home appliances, furniture, music, jewelry, and other merchandise which can also be shipped directly to Mexico or Central America via their export department. The stores have an authentic Latin American ambiance featuring Mayan and Aztec architecture and décor, Spanish-language signs, and bi-lingual salesclerks.
La Curacao sells most of its merchandise on credit to over one million customers who carry the La Curacao credit card.
The company's services also include La Curacao Travel, Pasito (Internet service provider
), CuraTel (long-distance calling services), and Pasito Tunes (a proprietary
digital
media player
).
, California
as a consumer product sales enterprise specializing in door-to-door sales..
During the time of door-to-door sales, La Curacao became popular among the large population of Hispanic immigrants in Los Angeles who were eager to join the consumer market but did not have the financial services available to them. While selling door-to-door, salesmen allowed customers to buy their goods by placing a down payment and then coming back to the customer's residence to collect payments on a regular basis. This eventually evolved into the La Curacao credit line.
sells a wide variety of consumer electronics
such as home computers, video games, DJ equipment, digital cameras, and mobile phones, as well as home appliances, jewelry, and furniture
. The sales floor operates in a non-commissioned
based sales environment similar to Best Buy
. Each of the stores include a department for audio/visual equipment for automobiles, offering on-site installation services. Near each store there is a Pollo Campero
, a Central American fast-food chain. Similar to Ikea
's Småland, many stores also have a supervised play area that provides computer training/entertainment for young children.
is the cornerstone of Curacao's success with credit cardholders accounting for about 90% of the chain's sales. La Curacao is known to provide financing to those who cannot easily access it.The combination of retail and providing financial services has proven successful for the Hispanic market. Most general-market retailers have policies that make it difficult for Latino immigrants to get credit, while La Curacao makes it easy for them. The retailer approves 75 percent of credit card
applications regardless of immigration status through proprietary credit scoring methods and interviewing techniques. The La Curacao credit card is the first credit card for a majority of its cardholders. The percentage of cardholders who default
on their payments is on par to that of the credit card industry. Their annual interest rates are comparable to most retail stores, such as Macy's, Sear's
, and Gap
.
La Curacao caters its credit and other services specifically to the needs of the Hispanic community. Its export service delivers merchandise to Central America and Mexico from warehouses in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. The company also provides home mortgage services, travel services, and money transfer with customers able to use their cards to borrow the money they transfer.
is one of Curacao's unique services. Customers can purchase a product and one of their locations in the United States and have delivered to a number of locations Central American countries, a well as Mexico
.
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
retailer that serves the Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
market. The retailer has nine stores in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and one in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. La Curacao ranks among the top 100 consumer electronics retailers in the U.S. La Curacao also sells home appliances, furniture, music, jewelry, and other merchandise which can also be shipped directly to Mexico or Central America via their export department. The stores have an authentic Latin American ambiance featuring Mayan and Aztec architecture and décor, Spanish-language signs, and bi-lingual salesclerks.
La Curacao sells most of its merchandise on credit to over one million customers who carry the La Curacao credit card.
The company's services also include La Curacao Travel, Pasito (Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
), CuraTel (long-distance calling services), and Pasito Tunes (a proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
media player
Media player
Media player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. While many media players can play both audio and video, others focus only on one media type or the other...
).
History
In 1981, La Curacao was established in BurbankBurbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as a consumer product sales enterprise specializing in door-to-door sales..
During the time of door-to-door sales, La Curacao became popular among the large population of Hispanic immigrants in Los Angeles who were eager to join the consumer market but did not have the financial services available to them. While selling door-to-door, salesmen allowed customers to buy their goods by placing a down payment and then coming back to the customer's residence to collect payments on a regular basis. This eventually evolved into the La Curacao credit line.
- 1983 – La Curacao moves to 1313 W. Olympic Blvd. in the Pico-Union district in Los Angeles. La Curacao adds furniture to its array of merchandise.
- 1984 – La Curacao opens its Export division, allowing customers to shop for goods and have them shipped to their families in El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
and GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. Today, La Curacao has its own warehouses throughout Mexico and Central America and operates a home delivery program.
- 1992 – La Curacao's only location is burnt down during the Los Angeles Riots1992 Los Angeles riotsThe 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
, and its inventory is completely lost. La Curacao reopens two weeks later down the street at 1605 W. Olympic Blvd.
- 1993 – La Curacao expands the size of its single store and opens its service department to assist customers with repairs and exchange needs.
- 1995 – La Curacao opens its second store in the Panorama City district of the San Fernando ValleySan Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, a region in Los Angeles. Located inside the Panorama Mall, the Panorama store is 35000 square feet (3,251.6 m²) and features a child care facility for customers' kids. The company also purchases the office towers located on 1605 W. Olympic Boulevard and opens the La Curacao Business Center.
- 1998 – Hurricane MitchHurricane MitchHurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...
ravages Central America. La Curacao joins other American companies to collect and distribute donations on the ground. La Curacao charters a Boeing 747Boeing 747The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
to take all donations directly to the victims.
- 1999 – The Los Angeles store on Olympic Boulevard is expanded to 100,000 square feet.
- 2000 – La Curacao opens its third store in the City of South GateSouth Gate, CaliforniaSouth Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The sixteenth largest city in Los Angeles County, it encompasses . South Gate is located just southeast of downtown Los Angeles It is part of the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County...
with a retail space of 105,000 square feet.
- 2001 – La Curacao launches Pasito.Com, an internet service providerInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
for its Latino customers.
- 2002 – La Curacao opens the first Pollo CamperoPollo CamperoCampero International, S.A., operating as Pollo Campero, is the largest fast food chain in the continent of Americas and one of the world's largest fast food chains in the fried chicken market...
restaurant in the U.S. attached to the Olympic-Union store. La Curacao opens its fourth store with 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) in Huntington ParkHuntington Park, CaliforniaHuntington Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, down from 61,348 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, California. Curatel Long Distance begins providing long distance telephone service.
- 2003 – La Curacao initiates a loyalty program called Puntos, a points-based incentive program.
- 2005 – La Curacao opened its fifth and sixth stores, in San BernardinoSan BernardinoSan Bernardino, California is a large city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California.San Bernardino may also refer to:-Landforms:*San Bernardino , a torrent that flows through the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola...
and an outlet in Lynwood, CaliforniaLynwood, CaliforniaLynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 69,772, down from 69,845 at the 2000 census. Lynwood is located near South Gate and Compton in the southern portion of the Los Angeles Basin. Incorporated in...
- 2006 – La Curacao opens its first store in Orange CountyOrange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, in Santa Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
.
- 2007 – The retailer opens its second store in Orange County and its first store outside of California, in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
Recent Initiatives
The retailer has expressed plans to further expand into Nevada and Texas and market toward the English speaking communities as well.Store Layout
The La Curacao department storeDepartment store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
sells a wide variety of consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
such as home computers, video games, DJ equipment, digital cameras, and mobile phones, as well as home appliances, jewelry, and furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
. The sales floor operates in a non-commissioned
Commission (remuneration)
The payment of commission as remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. Payments often will be calculated on the basis of a percentage of the goods sold...
based sales environment similar to Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
. Each of the stores include a department for audio/visual equipment for automobiles, offering on-site installation services. Near each store there is a Pollo Campero
Pollo Campero
Campero International, S.A., operating as Pollo Campero, is the largest fast food chain in the continent of Americas and one of the world's largest fast food chains in the fried chicken market...
, a Central American fast-food chain. Similar to Ikea
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
's Småland, many stores also have a supervised play area that provides computer training/entertainment for young children.
Financial Services
CreditCredit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
is the cornerstone of Curacao's success with credit cardholders accounting for about 90% of the chain's sales. La Curacao is known to provide financing to those who cannot easily access it.The combination of retail and providing financial services has proven successful for the Hispanic market. Most general-market retailers have policies that make it difficult for Latino immigrants to get credit, while La Curacao makes it easy for them. The retailer approves 75 percent of credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
applications regardless of immigration status through proprietary credit scoring methods and interviewing techniques. The La Curacao credit card is the first credit card for a majority of its cardholders. The percentage of cardholders who default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
on their payments is on par to that of the credit card industry. Their annual interest rates are comparable to most retail stores, such as Macy's, Sear's
Sear
Sear may refer to:* Sear , part of the trigger mechanism on a firearm* Seir , a Prince of Hell; also spelled Sear* Searing, a cooking technique which quickly cooks the exterior of a food item...
, and Gap
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
.
La Curacao caters its credit and other services specifically to the needs of the Hispanic community. Its export service delivers merchandise to Central America and Mexico from warehouses in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. The company also provides home mortgage services, travel services, and money transfer with customers able to use their cards to borrow the money they transfer.
Export
ExportExport
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
is one of Curacao's unique services. Customers can purchase a product and one of their locations in the United States and have delivered to a number of locations Central American countries, a well as Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.