| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Products | Consumer Electronics Toys Home Appliances Furniture Jewelry Cosmetics |
| Employees | 2180 |
| Parent | ADIR International, LLC |
| Website | lacuracao.net lacuracao.com |
La Curacao (pronounced Koo-ra-sao) 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.[1] 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.[2] The stores have an authentic Latin American ambiance featuring Mayan and Aztec architecture and décor, Spanish-language signs, and bi-lingual salesclerks.[3] La Curacao sells most of its merchandise on credit to over one million customers who carry the La Curacao credit card.[4]
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). [5][6]
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In 1981, La Curacao was established in Burbank, California as a consumer product sales enterprise specializing in door-to-door sales.[7] 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.[4] 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.[8] This eventually evolved into the La Curacao credit line.
The retailer has expressed plans to further expand into Nevada and Texas and market toward the English speaking communities as well.[14]
The La Curacao department store 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.
Credit is the cornerstone of Curacao's success with credit cardholders accounting for about 90% of the chain's sales.[15] La Curacao is known to provide financing to those who cannot easily access it.[14] The combination of retail and providing financial services has proven successful for the Hispanic market.[14] Most general-market retailers have policies that make it difficult for Latino immigrants to get credit, while La Curacao makes it easy for them.[15] The retailer approves 75 percent of credit card applications regardless of immigration status through proprietary credit scoring methods and interviewing techniques.[15] The La Curacao credit card is the first credit card for a majority of its cardholders.[15] 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.[15]
La Curacao caters its credit and other services specifically to the needs of the Hispanic community.[15] Its export service delivers merchandise to Central America and Mexico from warehouses in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala.[15] 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.[3]
Export 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.[14]
La Curacao takes an active yet quiet role in numerous philanthropic endeavors, including disaster relief after the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, and an annual Children’s Fair to encourage children to stay in school and stay involved in extra curricular activities.[16]
The La Curacao Foundation, or Fundacion La Curacao Para Los Niños, was established in 2002 as a community assistance program that provides direct assistance to needy children by donating basic home products. The program also assists the community by providing donations to established non-profit organizations.[17] The La Curacao Foundation in essence handles referrals from schools, churches and organizations within the community.[14]