PHILIPSBURG--Champagne was in full flow at Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco B.V. on Tuesday where half a dozen departments organised their individual tributes and presentations to honour their boss, Managing Director Georges Greaux Jr., who celebrated 40 years running the company.
The day-long celebration saw the Operations, Finance, Marketing and Retail Departments organise their tributes. Aside from a traditional local breakfast and a management lunch at Holland House Hotel, champagne and cake was in plentiful supply, the day rounding off with a gathering of friends and family for a Petit Punch, and more cake.
Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco was started in 1976 by his father, Georges E. Greaux Sr, the founder of WINAIR who sold the company to the then-Netherlands Antilles Central Government. Greaux Sr will celebrate his 90th birthday in October and was expected to join the party later in the day.
The first office of Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco was based in the cargo building of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) before Georges Sr. bought some lots from Chester Wathey that became available, permitting him to build an office building, warehouse and retail space, which turned out to be the structure that is presently on Buncamper Road, Philipsburg, today.
“The buildings have weathered storms over the years and took a major battering in Hurricanes Luis and Irma, but when I look back at those events, hard as they were to live through, we learnt from the experience, especially about crisis management,” said Georges. “These days we are able to bounce back, thanks to the government putting utilities underground.”
The decision to open Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco evolved naturally from the family business of trading liquor, wines and spirits between the islands.
“It’s always been a family business. My grandfather had a schooner running from Trinidad all the way up to Santo Domingo, trading wines and spirits and other materials. A lot of the wine and spirit supply would go through St. Barths to get to the USVI.”
Georges completed high school at Milton Peters College before going on to university in the USA. He was interested in the sciences and marine biology, progressing into the field of chemical oceanography.
During holidays in St. Maarten he had summer jobs as a waiter at the former West Indian Tavern on Front Street that later turned into the Guavaberry Store, and also at Calalloo.
“My studies were cut short, as being a French national I was required to do military service. My grandfather called me up from St. Barths and said the Gendarmes were looking for me! I was 18 at the time so I came home for the pre-testing.
“I did military service in Guadeloupe with the Adapted Military Service Regiment RSMA for a year and a half. I even thought about staying longer, but then my Dad asked me to come and work for him. I told him I would give it a shot.”
He officially joined Caribbean Liquors on June 17, 1985, starting from the bottom. “The first task I was given was to reorganise the warehouse. In those days we didn’t have fork-lift trucks, so everything was heavy lifting and emptying containers by hand,” he recalled. “But I was fit because I had just come out of the army. Then I got into organising deliveries to customers and dispatching, before slowly moving into sales.
“I learnt a lot about accounting from my father, and that pushed me more into computers and software, to manage the financial side of the company. I’ve learnt a lot about the business world and business tools. When I started here we had telex and fax machines, no Internet, and we were the first company to have Windows installed. But doing business today is far more challenging than it was 40 years ago.”
Georges attributes the success of the company to the timing of the “boom” in the early ’80s when the island was experiencing rapid growth.
One of the biggest challenges for the company was navigating the COVID pandemic. The company was initially not on the list for payroll support, but got some support later.
“We found a way to liquidate non-essential stock, to cash it out and use our own capital to get through the crisis. It was not the first time there had been a consequence on employees. We had it through Luis and Irma. The employees agreed to a pay cut and they still said, ‘Let’s do this.’
“I thank them because they have been very instrumental in keeping the company alive. It’s the people behind the business who are important and that’s been very satisfying for me. It's not just about the pay cheque, it’s their commitment and dedication to see it through.”
Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco is an ardent sponsor of many local events on both sides of the island, the Saint-Martin Billfish Tournament, Les Mardis de Grand Case to name two, and the traditional Anguilla boat races.
“We do it because it’s not just about us, but to pull other businesses along, to boost everyone. I’m very much into anything to do with local culture, traditional food, steel pan, etc. Fishing is a passion for me, just like my Dad. We don’t want to necessarily be a title sponsor, but to create economic activity behind it, to bring people together and that has a positive impact on the island.”
