DISCOVERY BAY GROCER SETS STAGE FOR NEXT STEPS
St Ann’s Bay, St Ann; Nov. 26, 2025
Fitzroy Pryce has been honoured by the St Ann Municipal Corporation (SAMC) for his entrepreneurship.
Mr Pryce operates a wholesale grocery store on Main Street, Discovery Bay, St Ann. His store has the distinction of being one of the very few retail grocery stores operated by a Jamaican-born businessman in the parish.
Mr Pryce was one of seven people from St Ann, recognized and honoured by the St Ann Municipal Corporation for their work and service in the parish, at the Heroes’ Day Civic Ceremony on Monday, October 20, at Lawrence Park, St Ann’s Bay.
Each received a citation and a plaque. Some others will be featured by the North Coast Times over the next week.
Mr Pryce is carrying on the family’s tradition in the business, having taken it over from his mother in 1990. She operated the grocery store for nearly two decades before she migrated, leaving it to him.
Mr Pryce has seen off several takeover offers and bids. His thinking, now that his daughter and son are getting into the business, is to expand by adding another location.
“Fitzy”, as he is commonly known, is called upon to lend a helping hand and provide cash, kind or moral support to a myriad of causes and events being held in and around the community.
His involvement in St Ann and residency there is purely by chance and was initially out of adversity.
(Entertainment was part of the event at the Garvey Statue, Lawrence Park )
The St Elizabeth native was living in New Market when the floods hit the town in 1979, disrupting every facet of life there, including school. For months, he, as was the case with many other children, was not able to attend school.
KNOWING THE BUSINESS
His mother, Erica Farquharson, would not have it and found a place for him at Iona High, St Mary, effecting a transfer from Black River Secondary (now High). While at Iona High, he spent weekends, evenings, and holidays in his mother’s business,
and when she was ready to leave in 1990, he was well prepared. “I grew up in the business and knew every aspect of it. Knowing the business means you have to know how to sweep out the shop, too,” he said. “Yes means weighing out and packaging items and packing the shelves.”
Asked about the challenges he has faced in the 35 years at the helm, he said there were no real difficulties. “My mother told me, ‘for you to succeed in business, you must make sure to pay your bills on time and be able to access credit. Business cannot be run without good credit.’” He has been doing that for 35 years, and he says good customer service has helped the success, in keeping customers and getting new ones.
“I tell my staff we have to give good customer service. Other people sell the same things we do and may even have better prices but we have to be the best at customer service,” he says.
Over time, he has watched new communities spring up around Discovery Bay as the area grows and the business with it. He says customers are not, as once was the case, just from the immediate area but as far as Belle Air, Queenhythe, Dairy Road, Old Folly and Farm Town. “So our customer base is growing. From you treat the customer well, they always keep coming,” Mr Pryce says. The citation from the Civic Committee of the Municipal Corporation also highlights his service excellence.
He works seven days a week and only truly gets a break occasionally when he travels overseas. “That’s the only time I get a break, when I go to visit the bigger family overseas,“ he says.
(At the awards ceremony floral tribute was paid to the National Heroes and St Ann Festival Queen 2025 and the runner-up were involved in the event. 7 UNSUNG HEROES HONOURED IN ST ANN )
One of St Ann’s most successful businessmen, developer, supermarket owner and philanthropist Peter Shand says there are not many people more deserving than Fitzroy Pryce. “He’s a hard worker, from I know him decades now,” Shand said.
Philpott Mitchell, head of M&M Sewer, provider of event accessories, said, “Fitzy is loved by the whole of Discovery Bay. Well done.”
Mr Pryce is satisfied that he’s making the transition to the next generation, and they can give him the break he needs from time to time. “I phase in my children in the business. My daughter Breanna, she can hold it in place and [son] Keneil.” He says they are ready to take it to the next stage.
