Haiti’s definitely “Open for Business”. On my arrival from Haiti 2 weeks ago, one of the first tweets I read was Kenneth Cole and his team was headed to Haiti to open a store at the new and improved Kinam Hotel complex. Since the news of the opening, Haitians have been on opposite sides on whether this is something positive or negative for Haiti.
According to CBSNews,
Kenneth Cole has opened a boutique in Haiti that the designer says will bring commercial and humanitarian benefits to the poverty-stricken Caribbean country. The store celebrated its grand opening Thursday in a hotel complex in Petionville. The district in the hills above downtown Port-au-Prince has rebounded from the devastation of the January 2010 earthquake and is now the major commercial center of the capital. Kenneth Cole Productions says a portion of profits from the sale of clothing and accessories will go to the Kenneth Cole Haiti Health Center in the impoverished Cite Soleil on the northern edge of the capital. A company statement announcing the new boutique says the center is providing medical care to hundreds of thousands of people in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
Haitian blogger Hmystique who attended the grand opening snapped these pictures of the inside of the store.
The store looks like any other Kenneth Cole in the US, except that in this location Kenneth Cole Productions is trying something new. Proceeds from store sales will go to the Kenneth Cole Haiti Health Center, which will be providing medical care to people in Cite Soleil and the surrounding areas. – Hmystique
