fp Turks and Caicos

Shopping for local products in the Grace Bay area just got easier, thanks to a partnership between the Turks and Caicos National Trust and one local business.

J&D Office Supplies owners Joanna and Drexwell Seymour have offered the trust an area to sell its merchandise in their newest location.

The Seymours announced last week the opening of the shop in the Regent Village in Grace Bay. This new store marks the third location for J&D Office Supplies, which opened its first location on the Airport Road in 2001 and later established a second location in Bottle Creek on North Caicos.

J&D Office Supplies offers office supplies, computer supplies, school supplies and furniture as well as copying, printing and Internet services. As an agent of LIME, J&D offers telecommunication services such as fax services, top up minutes and phone rentals. The Grace Bay location now also offers local artisan handcrafts crafts through the National Trust.

National Trust Executive Director Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams said she is very grateful to J&D Office Supplies for giving the trust an opportunity to have some of their items at this location where tourists and residents will have greater access to some of the locally made products.

Gibbs-Williams says such partnerships help the trust meet its mandate of promoting and encouraging local artisans to continue the traditional trades of the islands, as well as passing the information on to the next generation.

On March 30, the National Trust opened a one-stop Souvenir Shop and Tourist Information Centre in the Graceway Plaza, its second on Providenciales. Store hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays.

The shop features a wide array of beautifully crafted and locally made items catering to island guests and residents. The store’s new look reflects the organization’s thrust to promote TCI heritage while also creating business opportunities for local artisans such as basket weavers, boat makers, painters and ceramic artists.

The trust still operates its Town Centre Mall branch, which also serves as the organization’s headquarters. It is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.