About Us
History
Unicon (United Construction) was founded in 1955. In those days Unicon specialized in air-conditioning, electrical installations, plumbing and roofing; mainly serving business customers.
AMC (Antillian Mercantile Corporation) was founded in 1962. AMC was a retailer in electronics, appliances, small household electrics, building products and sporting articles. In 1979 Unicon acquired AMC and merged the activities under the trade name “AMC Unicon”. In the beginning of 1987 Unicon acquired Intag (International Agencies) for its trade in building materials, other activities of Intag were sold.
The Dutch multinational Ceteco acquired AMC and Unicon in 1987. Ceteco was a retailer in durable consumer products in the Caribbean, Central- and South-America. Under the wings of Ceteco, AMC Unicon became a full service retailer, with additional products like in-house financing (hire purchase), extended warranty, hook-up delivery and installation, service & repair.
A full-service retailer
During the nineties AMC Unicon concentrated more and more on the retail of durable consumer products. Besides the retail of appliances, air-conditioning, electronics and small household electrics, AMC Unicon started with furniture retail sales, while other activities like electrical installations, plumbing and roofing, as well as the retail of building products and sporting articles were either stopped or sold.
In 1999 AMC Unicon acquired the Hagemyer store to extend their market position in appliances, electronics and furniture. In 2001 a new furniture store was opened under the trade name “Home & Nature”.
A local business – reacting to local needs
After many years of being part of international Dutch based companies like, Van Swaaij (Imtech), Ogem and Ceteco; in 2000 AMC Unicon became a locally owned company, which gives it the flexibility to react on local needs and developments.
In 2005 Unicon celebrated its 50th anniversary. In the first 50 years Unicon became a company with a strong appearance in the local market, known on one hand as a service orientated retailer with reliable top-brand products and services and on the other hand a specialist in the field of air-conditioning, both for homes as well as in commercial buildings and private business projects.
Today Unicon employs about 100 people. We have 7 stores in Aruba and a professional services and installation team.
